Constant and Changing
by TheStarfish
Summary: "She's the anchor, to which I keep returning." "He's the one unpredictable thing about my life." When the Doctor was young, he met a human. And this human was changed forever. Odie Jackson was just a normal woman, until the Time Lord entered her life. And nothing will ever be the same for her again. EVERY DoctorxOC, Rated T just in case.
1. Just a Day in New Orleans

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

She listened to it often. The music of the city. The way the automobiles honked, the people stepped, the cats purred, the dogs barked, the city rebounded the sounds into a majestic symphony of life. At that very moment, she was swirling around on the Congo Square, her dark curly bundle of hair bouncing with her movements; her long, lemon yellow skirt caressed her dark brown legs, and her white blouse was colored by the many different shades of colors her necklaces provided; green, yellow, blue, purple, red and many others.

It was quite obvious what she was; she was a freed slave, part of the lower class. And yet she seemed so happy, as she carelessly twirled around herself to the rhythm only she could hear. Many passers-by stopped to stare at her – possibly wonder about her mental health – but some stopped, smiling at her joy. She began dancing around; engaging in a fast-paced epiphany of musical enjoyment all on her own.

,,**Odie?**"

Two other youngsters, both belonging to the same class as the girl, appeared among the spectators. One of them, the girl, had red hair, fair skin and freckles – she was the result of some Irish fellows, having migrated to America to escape the poor life they had in Ireland. The male was an African, just as the girl – _Odie_. He was her older brother.

The two smiled at each other, knowingly, as Odie apparently ignored them. The girl jumped to Odie, beginning to tap on her thighs in sync with the rhythm Odie's feet slapped against the concrete below her. And whistling, she began dancing on the spot as well. The man threw down his cap, as he pulled out a small harmonica from his pocket, beginning to play along to the melody. Odie opened her eyes when the extra music joined in on her symphony, and she smiled at her two friends.

And together, she and her best friend, named _Red_ for the joke of it, began to hum and dance together. The two girls swirled around each other, their equally colorful clothes providing a true feast for the eyes, as they mixed around each other.

And as the music drew more and more people to them, the two girls needed merely look at each other, before they simultaneously dispersed into the people, pulling people into the dancing with them; children, adults and grandparents alike were soon dancing along with each other on the plaza, to the great amusement of the spectators, who also began swaying to the music.

And as the music died down, another sound arose from the silence. An applause; a huge bundle of clapping, some in harmony, others horribly out of tact. But it was a beautiful sound, and Odie grinned widely, performing a dramatic curtsy at the compliment. She grinned at her best friend, who did the same, as her brother – _Jerry_ – bowed deeply to the audience, and jumped to his cap, now filled with all manners of things. Some of the children had bestowed the great joy of candy on them, and some of the adults had thrown in all manners of currency – Dollars, Pennies and even some foreign coins, which most likely were the remnants of their lives before they came to America.

The audience dispersed just as quickly as they had amassed, and Jerry turned to his sister with a grin.

,,**Some o' the kids thought we deserved treats,**" he pointed out, as he threw two pieces of toffee at the girls, who caught them respectively.

Odie laughed as she popped the sticky substance into her mouth, delighted at the surprise. Red put her own in a small red pouch, hanging from a cotton strap in her belt.

,,**Wha'dya com' an' ge' me for'?**" Odie managed to spell out with the toffee gluing her teeth firmly together. Red laughed at the strange speaking patters Odie presented her with.

,,**Your mum wants you,**" she revealed, and Odie nodded with a thoughtful look in her dark eyes. She made great effort to swallow the substance growing in her mouth with every chew, and her eyes watered at the strain, but she laughed raspingly at her success.

,,**You know what they say – He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day,**"

Red and Jerry were caught by surprise by this, but only for a few seconds, before they looked at each other, shrugged and quickly darted after the renegade, who had run in the general direction which led away from her mother, and their little community of outcasts.

,,**But you're not even fightin', Odie! You're just runnin'!**" Jerry yelled after her, causing the girl to cackle like a witch, before quickly bolting into the adjacent alley, and taking four great leaps up the stacked garbage, as she made an elegant leap above the high fence at the end of the alley. Red and Jerry followed close at her heels.

,,**The wise soldier knows when he's out-matched,**" she called back over her shoulder, and Red rolled her eyes. Odie would say anything to get out of facing her mum. And Jerry and Red would do anything to catch her, so they wouldn't have to face her wrath...

Even if it meant chasing Odie half-way across the city of New Orleans.

And that's exactly what they did. Odie eventually came to a halt at the harbor, and she doubled up on the ground, breathing heavily. Red and Jerry came to a halt next to her a few seconds later, both of them in lack of air. Red bended over, hands on kneecaps, while Jerry leaned backwards, his hands supporting his sides where the most dreadful side stitches were torturing him.

Red gave Odie a good box on the head, making the other girl laugh.

,,**Odie, ye ballbeg!**"

Jerry shook his head.

,,**Red, no swearin'.**"

Red furrowed her brow.

,,**Tell yer sister t' be less of a caffler then.**"

Odie laughed out loud again. Red always swore in ways Odie and Jerry didn't know when she was angry. She had said it was her method of getting her aggressions out of the way, without directly insulting the two. Unfortunately, that had done so that each time Red spoke with Irish words; they would assume she was swearing.

,,**My sister ain't no caffler, wha'ever that is,**" Jerry claimed, and Odie stood up with a deep breath.

,,**You don't need explain, Red, I'm sure we won't understand anyways,**" Odie teased and Red grinned. They most definitely would not. Last time Red had tried to explain 'Shoibag' to the two, it had led to a horrid experience.

,,**Why all the runnin', Odie? What have you done to upset mum this time?**" Jerry asked, as he stood straight, making his baby sister wet her lips with a cheeky look on her face.

,,**I bet she's gone and found out about me new job,**" Odie speculated with a grin. Jerry and Red widened their eyes. A job!? For a slave-born? Jerry furrowed his brow.

,**Wha' kinda job?**" he asked, suspiciously, and Odie shook her head, eagerly, seeing the direction her brother's thoughts were taking.

,,**Oh no, nothin' like that, Jerry! Well, we're close to it now, so I can take you to see it!**" she said eagerly, as she grabbed the two by their hands, pulling them eagerly with her. Red was curious enough to not needing the drag, while Jerry was a bit more cautious. Odie _was_ his little sister, after all; it was only natural for him to wary on her account.

The trio slowly made their way through the streets. The white people all more or less ignored them, as usual; and their own kind did as well, since it was highly unlikely that the three had any money to spare for them. Even the pickpockets avoided them, as they didn't steal from their own.

Jerry looked up at the sky, seeing the sun going past it's highest point.

,,**Odie, if we don't hurry, we'll have to take the tram in the after-work buzz,**" Jerry said cautiously. All three of them knew what that meant; strict segregation. Even though the society was steadily becoming more and more unified with every new step taken by the NAACP, the mayor was still using his influence to stop equality from coming to the colored people. Which meant that the three of them were going to have to be thrown off multiple trams, because all the white people had to get home, and they didn't care a rat's ass whether the three of them came home or not.

,,**We'll get back in time, Jerry, don't worry. Otherwise, we'll just walk – it's healthy, you know,**" Odie said with a grin. Red rolled her eyes. How Odie could be so cheerful all the time was beyond her. But Odie's good mood was so horribly contagious, and even though Jerry and Red didn't like the idea of walking all the way back to the village; they were just as giddy as Odie when they happened upon an old green door, seemingly placed randomly at the corner of the street. They quickly descended the three steps of the stair, and entered the place.

Upon the door was the sign: "_Stella Bar_"

The inside of the bar was just as non-seemingly as the outside. A lot of small circular tables were placed all around the place, each with three stools placed upon them; no doubt to ensure that the floor could be cleaned while the place was closed for the day. Behind a rather simple bar desk stood a man, only in his mid-thirties, cleaning glass upon glass with a clean cloth. The man was white, his hair black and clean and his eyes gray; filled with knowledge of the world. He looked up as the bell indicated visitors, and his eyes lit up with a spark when he noticed Odie.

,,**Miss Jackson, welcome back! You are aware of the fact that you don't start work until this evening, right?**" he asked happily, as he slung the cloth over his right shoulder, approaching the woman with a great smile. Odie grinned and took the man's hands when he reached out for her, eagerly shaking fists together like old friends.

,,**Yes I am, Mr. Owens, but my friend and brother were curious about the place, and I didn't think any harm would be done if they saw it,**" she explained, and the man – _Owens_ – smiled at the two other guests.

,,**No no, of course not, welcome to the both of you!**" he greeted gladly, and Red smiled at the man. He didn't seem like the typical white guy in town. He was a good man; she could see it in his eyes. Even Jerry found it hard to suspect anything menacing from Mr. Owens; albeit he tried meticulously.

The three walked around the bar briefly – Odie describing how she had stumbled into the place a few days prior, and had asked Mr. Owens if he was in lack of staff, as she saw the man run around the place in a frenzy. Odie had volunteered to help him clean the place before opening hours, and Mr. Owens had insisted on paying her. They had hereafter come to the agreement that Odie could begin working at the bar regularly, both as a cleaning lady and as an entertainer in the evening, singing for the amusement of the customers.

This was the part Jerry didn't particularly like; but he knew it was Odie's dream to live off her singing, so he kept quiet.

After about half an hour, in which Odie and Red had been roaming about the bar, and Jerry had sat at the bar, getting a beer on the house, as Mr. Owens assured the man that there would come no harm to his sister, the trio left the bar to go home.

And just as Jerry had predicted, they were done just in time to see all the white people board the trams, leaving no space for three outcasts. Odie giggled innocently; fully aware of the guilt hanging above her head, and she smiled slightly at her two friends; both looking at her with great dismay. She shrugged.

,,**It's healthy to walk every once in a while?**"

This cheeky remark awarded her a good box on the head from her brother, as Red stalked off in the direction to the settlement.

It took exactly 68 minutes to walk back to the settlement, and when they arrived, the sun had begun to set behind the trees of the Bayou. The three stopped at the hill, overlooking the small collection of wooden cottages, the homes of many dozens of former slaves and immigrants. The three smiled at the sight of their home.

,,**Odie, is that you? Get down here, young lady,**" the unmistakable yell of Mum Jackson sounded, booming through the afternoon air, and Odie groaned. That old lady just wouldn't give it a rest! She turned around, facing her two friends. They smiled, knowing Odie was in for the scolding of the century. She shrugged, walking backwards all the while.

,,**Everyone wants a piece of me, I can't help it; I'm gorgeous,**" she teased, before she turned 180 degrees, speeding down the hillside with her hair bouncing with each step. The two friends laughed at her form, as she skidded to a halt in front of the Jackson Cottage, quickly entering in order to not anger her mum further.

That night, Odie's one ear was visibly red. This could only mean one thing; severe scolding. But from Odies stellar mood, it was quite obvious that her mum had not succeeded in convincing her to give up on her new job. As a result, Mum Jackson wasn't very happy.

And as they all sat around the campfire, Red's gran preparing to lead the evening prayer, Odie was beaming as she informed her two friends of her victory.

,,**Mum was really stubborn, but youth prevailed!**" she said dramatically, nodding firmly. Red rolled her eyes, as Jerry pinched Odie's cheeks; making her whine like a little girl, as she attempted to remove her brother's fingers from her face. Red shook her head, as she patted Odie's thigh.

,,**Well, good thing you found some work you might be able to keep. You know you're always getting bored with normal jobs, and then get fired because you're lack of enthusiasm makes you a real slacker at work,**" Red scolded her, and Odie groaned loudly, letting herself fall to one side, her head landing in the lap of her brother.

,,**Oh please, not you too Red! I haven't heard anything but that from my mum all night, I don't need you to scold me too!**"

Jerry and Red laughed at the tired Odie, who just didn't sit up again; she found that the lap of her brother was a very comfortable pillow. But as the old Irish woman began talking very dramatically, Odie found she couldn't just keep lying down, and as such she returned to a sitting position.

And as Red's parents passed out the wine and crackers to everyone gathered at the campfire, Odie smiled. This was the thing she looked the most forward to each day: Sitting around the campfire with her large family of every kind of different people, listening to Gran talking of the Lord, as she could look up at the stars and fantasize herself into Paradise. And then, afterwards, it was the time of festivity and music.

And as always, the music lasted until they could hear all the clocks in every cottage striking 12, where the respective families retreated into their cottages. Odie went with Jerry and Mum Jackson into their cottage, closing the door and barring it. It was a long time since the Ku Klux had last moved through the settlement, dragging along many of their friends, but the outcasts were still worried. And for Odie, not barring the doors and windows for the night seemed like a preposterous idea.

She remembered when the men, clad in white, had appeared in the settlement when she was a child, dragging her father and several other men with them; the ones who had gone out to protect their families. And still the memories of the fire in their torches haunted her in her dreams.

She bid Jerry and her mum a good night, before going into her room. It was small, but cozy, with candles everywhere. She pulled out the matchbox from her dresser, lighting every candle in her room; a total of 24, all handmade by Red's mum. She put the matchbox back into the top right drawer in her dresser, looking at the photographs on her dresser. She smiled, planting a kiss on two of her fingers and pushing them towards the faded photograph of her dad.

,,**G'night, dad.**"

And as she quickly shed her everyday attire and dressed in her pajamas, she quickly retreated beneath the safe haven of her duvet; quickly falling into the darkness of sleep.


	2. Fairy Tales Coming True

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

It had been a week since Odie had started working at Stella Bar. It was a very pleasant job. She would go to the bar when the sun was at it's highest, and Mr. Owens would laugh, bid her welcome and give her a cup of tea; all the while getting the bar in order for the night. When Odie's tea was gone, she would move around the place, cleaning the floor and the small stage, dust off the tables and the piano, and in general just ensure that everything was in tip-top shape. Usually, it was time to open when they were done cleaning, so Odie would go into the back; changing into her uniform, while Mr. Owens would turn on the lights outside, indicating the bar had opened.

In the beginning, the bar didn't get many visitors. Some acquaintances of Mr. Owens and their friends were usually the only ones, but as rumor got around that the bar had gotten a new barmaid, more and more people began to arrive. Most of the customers were workers, coming to enjoy a beer before going home. Odie had, several times, needed to give the customers a good smack on the hand, when they attempted to grab her butt; but it was nothing she paid any thoughts to. That was just how things worked at a bar.

And sometimes, when no new customers needed drinks, Mr. Owens took a hold of the piano and began playing to entertain the customers, and Odie would often join him on the vocals. This fact only made the bar more popular.

Odie had bargained with Mr. Owens, so that she would get off in time to get home for evening service, but she was so terribly tired afterwards, barely remembering to say goodnight to the others at the campfire, as she tumbled into her bed.

But it was a good life.

After the week had passed, Odie had begun to recognize the customers coming into the bar; that's why she noticed him. But really; a young man, not much older than her, with neat brown hair and fair eyes? There was no way she wouldn't notice someone like him. She made a small sound as she sucked the air in through her almost closed lips, before making her way to him. He just sat there, looking around himself. It was like he had no idea why he was here.

,,**Hey hun'. What'd you want?**" she asked cheerfully, making the young man jump nervously. She couldn't help but giggle at him, and he seemed kind of devastated at the sound.

,,**What's so funny?**" he asked, and she quickly shook her head, willing her grin down to a tiny smile.

,,**Nothin'. This your first night in this part of town?**" she asked, and the man seemed to think for a while, before nodding. He assumed that was an accurate enough assumption. ,,**Yes, it is. I am sorry if I come across as jumpy.**"

Odie's smile grew wider at his apology. He was cute. She wondered what kind of family he was from. Most white men her age thought themselves above her, simply because they were white; this man didn't seem to think twice of it.

,,**'S all right, really. Do you want anything to drink? My treat for a newcomer,**" she offered with a glisten in her dark eyes, and the man blinked a few times. After seeming to think about it for a little while, he slowly nodded.

,,**I would like to take you up on that offer, but I am afraid that I haven't the faintest idea of what I would like,**" he admitted, and Odie's grin widened.

,,**Well, good thing I'm the barmaid then, huh?**" she teased, winking at him, before she turned around and walked to the bar. She put the tray on the bar, asking for the different drinks the customers had ordered, and a pint of ginger beer for the young man. Mr. Owens smiled at her, making a quick nudge in the general direction of the young man.

,,**Flirting on the job, Odie?**" he teased, and Odie stuck out her tongue in reciprocation.

,,**Never! I am entirely professional, you know that,**" she teased back, as she picked up the, considerably, heavier tray and proceeded around to the different tables. More than once, she had to stop and talk briefly with every customer, as they asked how she was doing. She was thankful for the worry for her from every one of the customers; these poor old fools were the sweetest people she had ever met.

When she came back to the young man, she gave him a toothy smile, handing him the ginger beer. He looked upon the mug with some minor mistrust, before looking up at her.

,,**May I know what is in this glass?**" he asked, and Odie giggled.

,,**Relax, it's just ginger beer,**" she teased. From his face, she could see that that didn't clarify anything for him, but he pretended to know what ginger beer was, and took a mouthful. And then his eyes widened.

,,**This is good!**" he claimed in surprise, and Odie shone with pride.

,,**Of course it is! I picked it out for you, didn't I?**" she teased, making the young man smile at her. It suited him with a smile; made his entire face light up.

,,**Thank you,**" he said, making Odie shift a bit on the spot. She never did take gratitude very well; especially when she didn't really do anything.

,,**Anytime,**" she just answered, wetting her lips and smiling, before she walked away from him to wait on the rest of the bar.

This evening passed remarkably slower than the others. Perhaps it was due to the almost constant gaze of the young man from earlier; it wasn't like a creepy gaze. It was more like he spaced out while looking at her, and then, some ten minutes afterwards, his thoughts would return to his body, and he would hastily move his eyes away again. But it didn't take long for the pattern to repeat itself.

And as most of the customers began dissipating into the night of New Orleans, Mr. Owens called her to the bar. She arrived, blinking confused at his crooked smile.

,,**Go and talk to the boy, Odie. These few customers I can take care of myself,**" he offered with a teasing look in his eyes; and though she appreciated the opportunity, she still gave him a good slap on the arm for teasing her. She quickly put down the tray and went to the table with the young man, who seemed alarmed as she walked to him. She smiled widely at his cautious face, lifting her hands.

,,**Don't worry, I just wanna talk,**" she quickly said, and he sighed deeply, but with a small smile. He was very on edge, but then again; if it _was_ his first night out in New Orleans, it was understandable. In most of the life, Odie didn't dare be outside the settlement after dark. She sat on one of the stools next to him, tipping her head to one side as he looked at her.

,,**How long have you worked here?**" he asked curiously, and Odie's smile widened. He instigated the conversation. Wonderful!

,,**A week,**" she informed him with a laugh, and he chuckled back.

,,**Thought so. You look rather young to be working at this place,**" he informed her, and Odie wrinkled her nose.

,,**It's not uncommon for young women to work at these places, if you'd like to know. Besides, I'm not **_**that**_** young; I'll be 18 next month,**" Odie complained, making the man's eyes bulge out.

,,_**18**_**!? You're still a child then,**" he commented, and Odie puffed out her cheeks in disdain.

,,**So what about you? You don't look a day older than 20,**" she accused, and the boy blinked.

,,**I'm 87,**" he said. This time it was Odie to widen her eyes. _87_!?

,,**You're joking.**"

,,**No, really.**"

,,**I swear you're joking.**"

The two looked at each other with mistrust for a few more seconds, before smiles grew on their faces and they began laughing at the situation. They both decided that the other must be joking.

,,**So, **_**old man**_**, what are you doing here? You don't seem the type to just decide to go out and drink for no reason,**" Odie pointed out, and the man nodded in admittance.

,,**I'm not. I had an, **_**errand**_** to run. I just decided to stop and think for a while, that's all.**"

Somehow, he didn't sound happy at all. It was as if remembering his errand immediately drained his good mood. Odie furrowed her brow, putting an elbow on the table, and resting her chin on her hand.

,,**Something wrong?**"

The man blinked as he looked back at the young woman. Although she was a mere child, by his standards; she was so mature, wisdom beyond her years visible in her eyes. What would be the problem in telling her a bit of his thoughts? They would never see each other again, after all.

So he told her.

He told her of how his people, the whole little _clan_ of people he lived with, had already set how he should live his life. He was almost done with school, learning of the story of his people and their legacy, and once he had learned all there was to know, he would be given nothing to use the knowledge for. He would just be locked up in his home until his death; forced to look at the world passing by outside.

Odie could recognize many of the problems he told her of. How other people thought they could decide how she lived, thought she would be satisfied with living the same life as her parents had done before her. Of course, they were terribly wrong; and Odie could see that the man in front of her wanted more as well.

,,**Well, tell me; what would **_**you**_** want to do? If you could do anything in the world?**" she asked, with a smile. The man seemed to not have thought of that before, and he looked down; his forehead furrowed in concentration. Odie grinned at his thoughtful look, twirling one of her dark curls around her index finger. After less than a minute, the man looked back up, his fair eyes suddenly intense.

,,**I want to travel: use everything I know, learn everything about other species, learn about other cultures and meet new people,**" he said, sounding more alive than he had done previously. Odie giggled at his apparent excitement at the mere thought.

,,**So then, why don't you just do that? Who can stop you?**" she spurred him on, but he retracted into himself again, shaking his head.

,,**They would never accept it,**" he said. Odie sighed deeply, making small tsk-sounds with her mouth. The man looked back at her, as she looked at him with a cheeky look in her eyes.

,,**So then, just don't tell them. Just **_**do**_** it. My mum didn't want me to work here either, but I accepted the job without her knowing, and here I am!**"

The man looked doubtful.

,,**I doubt the magnitude of the problem is like many. It is unheard of for one of my people to break the traditions! They expect us to just let ourselves be led into indecisiveness,**" he tried to explain, and Odie jumped up, hands on hips.

,,**Young man, do you know what my dream is?**" she asked with an excited look on her face, one the man thought he could not possibly just dismiss. He smiled slightly, shaking his head in bemusement.

,,**No, do tell,**" he beckoned, and she grinned.

,,**I want this place to become famous! I want people from every race in the world to flock here, to enjoy the drinks, to mingle and to listen to me sing!**" she indulged him, and he raised his eyebrows.

,,**Sounds like a fairytale,**" he commented. She giggled, nodding.

,,**Maybe, but you know what my dad told me? Fairytales do come true, but you've gotta work hard to make it so,**" she informed him, poking him on the nose. He wrinkled the object of the poking, as he looked at her.

,,**And you know what?**" she asked with a gleeful look on her face. "**I'm almost there.**"


	3. Strange Names and a Kiss

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. By the way, I apologize for the very quick upload, but I've had such a rush of inspiration for this wonderful series, so I HAD to put this up xD Enjoy! :D**

Odie and the man left the bar at the same time. He said he wanted to talk a bit more with her, and Odie wanted to speak more to him as well. He was strange, to say the least. When they talked about some things, like politics and history, he seemed to know so infinitely much, but then they spoke of everyday stuff, he seemed totally clueless. It was as if he lived on that school, never ever getting out of it. And he was excited by the smallest things; the lamps lit by oil and fire, the small weeds that sprung out of the concrete, the way many people of different birth mingled on the larger streets. He _was _peculiar.

They got to know each other quite well during their walk. He studied at someplace called 'The Academy'. It was quite a ways away from his house, lying on a mountain, but he lived at the school. He had once seen a meteor shower with her father, and his most dear teacher was an old man living beneath a tree up the mountain. He had three good friends at the Academy, one girl and two boys. He had a brother, and many dozen cousins. His father was called Ulysses, and his late mother was called Penelope Gate. He had frequently gone to their summer vacation home with his parents, and though his mother was dead, he remembered that she used to sing him lullabies.

Odie's own story paled in comparison, but the man seemed to absorb what she told him like a sponge. He seemed particularly interested in the story of how her grandparents had been brought to America as slaves for the white men, and how they had been freed of this charge over the years, but the prejudice still lingered in the hearts.

,,**Your people is so weird. Well, no, not **_**your**_** people, but the people in this country. Forcing your own species to be your slaves...**"

Odie smiled. She had gotten used to this. The man by her side often spoke like he wasn't a human. She couldn't quite fathom why, but whenever she attempted to pursue the subject, he would always start asking her questions about some little thing she hadn't told him yet.

,,**You don't have to tell me; I don't support slavery, if you haven't noticed,**" she teased and the man chuckled, patting her shoulder.

,,**No, I suppose not.**"

Sooner than Odie would have liked, they arrived on the hill overlooking her home, and she grinned, spreading her arms.

,,**Look upon the settlement of former slaves and immigrants,**" she said ceremonially, and the man smiled, sticking his hands into his pockets.

,,**It looks cozy,**" he admitted, and Odie couldn't help but laugh.

,,**It does, doesn't it?**"

The two stood in silent companionship, overlooking the preparations for evening service going on amongst the tree cottages; but after a while, the man cleared his throat, and Odie looked at him. He smiled slightly.

,,**I guess it's about time I return too. I'm terribly overdue,**" he said slowly, and Odie nodded with a giggle.

,,**Suppose so.**"

The two looked at each other, not quite sure how to say goodbye. They both felt like they had found something special; and both didn't feel like letting go. Odie had found her spice; the little twist of insanity in her perfect fairy tale. The man had found the anchor; keeping his head from going too far into the clouds, but not quite pulling him all the way to the ground. He turned towards her; reaching out his hand. Odie laughed at the formal method he chose to use.

She gave him his hand.

And it felt like they floated. Like they could fall or fly at any moment, depending on which way their feet were. Odie blinked, confused. He felt different, like he wasn't quite there. But the man just smiled.

,,**Goodbye**"

Odie quickly shook her head.

,,**I hate goodbyes. They feel so... **_**Permanent**_**. See you soon,**" she corrected him, winking at him, as she slowly let go of his hand, and slowly backed away from him, down the hillside. He looked after her, still thinking about what she said, as he timidly waved after her. She returned the wave, before quickly turning around and running the rest of the way down the hill.

And the man returned all the way back to the bar, walking through a red door; that suddenly wasn't there anymore.

But it wouldn't be soon. Odie's life went by just as it always had, but with one minor modification. Multiple times a day, she would hear from friends, family and the people at her work; "Where is the young man with the brown hair?" And every time, she wouldn't know. Every time the bell rang above the door in the bar, she'd look there with a smile; but it wouldn't be him. Not that _that_ ruined Odie's mood, oh no.

But meeting a mysterious stranger in a bar late at night; that would get anyone thinking.

* * *

A few months passed with nothing noteworthy in her life; until one Saturday afternoon. She was off work, and just lounging by inside the cottage. She hadn't even bothered getting out of her pajamas. She was reading the Bible again; she did that when she was bored. It was important to keep her reading up to speed, or it would go rusty like Jerry's. She was lying in an armchair; her legs swung out over one armrest and the other supporting her back.

There was nothing unusual about this, it happened each Saturday. But when Red tore open the front door, charging towards the armchair with a wild look on her face; Odie knew this Saturday was weird. Red usually slept until well past lunchtime on Saturdays. But this Saturday, she was blubbering about flying mailboxes and men crawling out of them. Odie had to leave her spot on the armchair and force Red into it instead, just to ensure that the poor woman wouldn't run around, throwing things about.

,,**Wow, hold on, Red! What's this about men in mailboxes?**" she asked slowly, attempting to make Red tell her story in a slow version. Red wasn't eager about it, but Odie somehow got the gist of it.

,,**Well, ya see, 'ere I was, mindin' me own business, when suddenly, a blue mailbox comes plummeting down in fron' of me! I thought this was weird 'nough, but then, this brown-haired fella comes crawlin' out o' the thing! I was right baffled, you see, and he just asked which way the settlement was, and 'e said he wanted to see Odie, so I came running straight 'ere.**"

Odie blinked. Once. Then once more. And then a bit more. A brown haired guy, crawling out of a mailbox and wanting to see her? There was only one person he could be.

,,**Odie, who was he?**" Red asked, seemingly calmed down as she had succeeded in relaying her story. Odie's smile widened, until it was a full-blown grin. She jumped to her friend, putting her arms around her and began jumping around in circles; laughing all the while.

,,**It's **_**him**_**! It's him, Red!**" she cooed happily, kissing Red on the cheek, before she quickly stepped into her loafers. She didn't think twice before running out of the door, charging past everyone bustling around the plain. She couldn't get to the top of that hill fast enough. She could hear the afternoon service beginning, as the musicians began playing behind her. She could hear the guitar, the drums and she could hear Red's mum singing, ever so faintly.

And as she arrived at the top of the hill, she saw a brown haired man. But he was older than her brown haired man. Odie blinked slowly, before smiling.

,,**Hi again,**" she greeted, and the man grinned widely.

,,**I knew you'd recognize me.**"

He had gotten older. Last time, he hadn't looked more than a few years older than her, but this time he looked like he was in his early 40'ies; but those bright wise eyes and the way his hands were clenched in the pockets of his trousers, that was definitely him.

,,**What's happened to you?**" she asked curiously, approaching him with a spring in her step. He laughed, scratching his head with the waning hairline.

,,**Age. For me, it's been twenty years since we last saw each other. How long has it been for you?**"

Odie was about to insist he was joking, yet again, but as before, she realized that it would be better to just accept everything the man said. It _was_ him; she was positive, and he _had_ aged. Those were the facts. How could she doubt that? So if he said time had passed faster for him, she would believe him.

,,**A few months.**"

The man whistled, as he looked at her clothes.

,,**I finally came to see you again, and you greet me in your pajamas?**" he laughed, and Odie grinned, pulling a bit at her egg white trousers. In the beginning, the shirt and trousers had both been bright white; but over the years, the shade had faded into a dustier white.

,,**Not my fault; my friend came yelling about men in mailboxes; of course I'd be busy seeing what idiot would do that,**" she teased, and the man laughed.

,,**So she was your friend? I am dreadfully sorry I surprised her,**" he apologized, and Odie quickly shook her head. Red would survive.

As the two sat on the hill, overlooking the people down at the plain, the man finally explained everything.

He was a Time Lord. A person who lived up in the sky, in space, and used Time Machines. He could live many thousands of years, and he could feel the Earth moving under his feet. His people watched the Universe, the countless people in it, go by, and swore a policy of non-interference. This meant, that even if they saw something terrible happening, they couldn't intervene. But he wanted more. He had gotten married since they last met, and they had agreed to have their first child soon. But due to a catastrophe in the past, Time Lords couldn't give physical birth to new Time Lords; as such, the whole matter of childbirth was a rather complicated process.

,,**So when you come here to visit me, you travel in these - what did you call them – TARDISes?**" Odie asked, looking at him curiously. The man nodded.

,,**I do, but I'm quite certain I'm breaking at least three Time Laws in coming here and telling you everything,**" he admitted, making Odie laugh aloud.

,,**Rules were meant to be broken,**" she teased, making the man smile. But he soon turned doubtful, as he turned to her. She raised a dark eyebrow, not understanding the sudden doubt in his face.

,,**Why do you not question me? You believe me so readily,**" he asked, and Odie smiled.

,,**I don't pretend to know everything in the world, and since you most certainly are you **_**and**_** you've aged more than a few months, there MUST be some truth to what you've been saying. Besides; you don't really have anything to gain from lying to me, do you?**" she asked, looking up at the sky. Somewhere up there was a place called Gallifrey, where Time Lords travelled in TARDISes, studied advanced sciences at an Academy and overlooked the entire universe.

He smiled.

,,**You're not a logical person, are you?**" he asked, and Odie laughed aloud.

,,**Not at all!**"

Many hours passed while they talked. After all, he had twenty years of news to tell her. He had actually written the most important bits down on paper, so he could remember them. She laughed each time had pulled out a fistful of paper notes, and some of them scattered in the wind. He would run around like a headless chicken; trying to gather them together before they flew into the air.

But when Odie heard the unmistakable sound of pot lids being hammered, she knew it was dinnertime. She stood up, looking at her friend with a small smile.

,,**I have to leave now,**" she apologized, and he smiled, standing up as well.

,,**'s okay. We have all of eternity to talk after all. Next time, I'll try to land a bit closer to now,**" he promised, laughing. Odie was soothed, knowing he would come and talk with her again. As he said, they had a long time. Maybe not eternity – she would die eventually, but so long as he had a TARDIS, and remembered to not wait a few months every time, they could talk many times.

,,**But before you go; don't you think we should introduce ourselves?**" Odie asked with a grin, and the man's eyes bulged out. He had not thought of the fact that he didn't know her name, or the other way around. They both laughed at how silly they had been, and they turned towards each other.

,,**I'm Odie Jackson,**" she greeted, holding out a hand. He smiled, taking her hand in his own; once more allowing the floating feeling to spread in them. He had explained that it was due to them being from two different worlds. Normally, the TARDIS regulated the amount of temporal energy, as he called it, so she shouldn't notice it, but he hadn't flown a TARDIS that often, so he wasn't completely sure how to set it to the right frequency.

,,**Hello Odie.**"

And then his face became puzzled, as it (she had noticed) did every time he found something hard to explain. She raised her eyebrows; a move he had noticed meant 'what'.

,,**Well, I can't tell you my real name. In Time Lord Culture, this indicates marriage or emotional bonding of another kind,**" he slowly informed her, and she widened her eyes.

,,**So... What do you do when you talk to each other?**" she asked slowly, not quite understanding that particular point in all he had told her. He laughed; it wasn't often Odie showed him _her_ puzzled expressions.

,,**We give each other nicknames. My nickname at the Academy was Theta Stigma,**" he informed her, and Odie laughed.

,,**That's a strange name,**" she teased, making Theta grin.

,,**Odie is just as strange,**" he pointed out, and Odie shrugged. That was true; her name was not ordinary in the least.

,,**So I'll just call you Theta?**" she asked with a sly grin, and he laughed, agreeing. And as they let go of each other, he turned around to walk back to the TARDIS. But Odie grabbed his wrist, her eyebrows suddenly contorted in worry. He blinked, large eyes at this face.

,,**What's wrong, Odie?**"

,,**Travelling; how is that coming along?**" she asked slowly. He smiled slightly.

,,**About that; I will travel, eventually. But for now, I have a duty to my family and the Time Lords. Don't make that face Odie, I remember what you told me; and I will most definitely go travelling at some point,**" he promised, and Odie allowed a small smile onto her face, as she nodded.

,,**Good.**"

Theta smiled, going back to Odie until he stood right in front of her. She looked up at him, confused, before he bowed down to her. Her eyes went wide as he carefully pressed his lips towards the corner of her mouth. She felt blood rush to her cheeks at the surprise, and when he pulled back, she looked incredulously at him.

,,**Wha-**"

He put a finger on her lips, getting her to be quiet. He smiled.

,,**A 'thank you for worrying about me'. Goodbye Odie,**" he said kindly, before walking away. Odie stared at his back, in surprise, before a grin spread on her face, and she soon laughed her heart out.

,,**THETA!**"

The yell made him look back at her, and she raised both arms high above her head, waving excitedly at him.

,,**I'll see you soon!**" she yelled at him, to which he chuckled heartily, waving back at her. And as his figure retreated back to his mailbox, Odie walked back to her normal life, back among her people; who, of course, all teased her about the man on the hill.

**NOW! Yes, you just met the Doctor in a hopelessly young version x) I couldn't find the name of Susan's grandmother, so I left her nameless. Sources indicated that, mayhaps, Patience could be her, but due to The Other leaving her in the Machine, I assumed the Doctor couldn't marry her when he had yet to embark on his adventures in the TARDIS.**

**I have a question: So far, how do you like this story? The idea? Is there anything I should fix about my writing style, or Odie's personality? Is there anything you want clarified? PM or Review, and please look forward to another chapter, which I am writing already x)**


	4. Being True to Oneself

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. And my sincerest thanks to****loulouflowerpower****for being my very first reviewer on this story :D You made me very happy, so as you asked: here is the next chapter ^^**

That evening, Odie sat at her night dresser, writing. Her mum and Jerry stood on the other side of the door, peeking through the crack at her. Her eyes were completely focused on the piece of paper in front of her, and she hadn't stayed behind for the music after evening service. She had been very giddy following her friend's visit, but she had suddenly become very thoughtful during evening service. Jerry looked at her mum, whose wrinkly face was below his, as they both spied on Odie.

,,**Who d'ya reckon he was, mum?**" he asked, and Mum Jackson simply shook her head. She didn't know. She had asked Red who he was, but she had just told her that he, apparently, lived in a mailbox and had met Odie in the bar a few months before.

Jerry didn't like it. Odie had never behaved like that before, ever. She always stayed to sing and dance after evening service, so when she suddenly had something else to do, which took precedence, he became worried.

After the two had watched Odie for ten minutes, Mum Jackson slowly stood up and retreated into her room. Jerry looked after her, his brow tightly knit together. Why was his mum so passive!? She had been fiercely against Odie working at the bar, but when a grown white man made passes on his sister, she didn't have anything to say!? But in the end, Jerry decided to take the talk with Odie the following day. He knew his sister well enough to know, that she would definitely argue with him tonight. She didn't seem to be in a mood, where he could convince her of anything.

Quite cleverly thought of him, too. Odie was, indeed, too engrossed in her thoughts to have been inclined to listen to him. She eagerly jotted down notes, processing the huge amount of different information Theta had given her. She looked at the finished product after a very long time, in which she had been entirely focused on her task, and in the end there wasn't enough space on her limited amount of paper to capture the whole picture. She had written on both sides of the paper; jotting down in every possible angle, until there was absolutely no space left, and yet she hadn't even written down half her thoughts. She groaned.

,,**I think Theta needs to help me with this next I see him. I doubt I've spelled half of these words correctly,**" she complained, looking doubtfully at her crude writing. She would have to practice her writing, or Theta might laugh at her next time. Odie sighed deeply, getting up from her dresser and blowing out her lamp. She tossed herself in her bed, hugging her picture of her father close to her chest.

,,**Theta is important to me. Why?**" she asked aloud, trying to identify the feeling inside her.

,,**He is different, he intrigues me.**" She knitted her brow together. True enough, but that wasn't all the reason. Many people intrigued her, on a daily basis, but never had someone taken her by storm like him.

,,**He is not like everyone. He is his own. He knows so much. Can he show me it all?**" Close enough. She looked at the picture of her father, the faint moonlight lighting up one half of the picture. She looked at the hungry eyes, starving for the knowledge he had always wanted.

,,**He's like Dad.**"

The following day, a storm brewed in the Jackson hut. Many of the people in the settlement awoke from the yelling.

,,**I don't care what you say, you don't know him!**"

Red had never heard Odie yell back at her mum, no matter what. Even when her mum had objected to her working at the bar, she had barely raised her voice. _This_ was on an entirely different scale. Even Red's gran, who was almost deaf, could hear it.

,,**An' you do!? You' seen 'im twice!**"

Mum Jackson rather bad English sounded hoarse. The chemicals in the factory she had worked in had almost ruined her throat, making her once beautiful and clean voice age ten times as fast as her body.

,,**I don't need to see him more to know that he ain't like that!**"

,,**Don't yell back at our mum-**"

,,**STAY OUT OF THIS, JERRY!**"

Both women yelled at the man in the house, and he quickly exited the hut, clearly frightened for his life. Who knew what could happen with the two women in that mood? Red and her family approached him, as he sat on the meeting log outside the hut. He smiled hesitantly:

,,**Jackson women are ferocious?**" he attempted, and Red's dad patted his shoulder.

,,**Right ye are, some fine Irish men got lost in those two,**" he commented.

It didn't take long before Odie threw open the door, marching out in anger. Her mum followed her as far as the door opening.

,,**Yea, walk off! An' don' come back 'fore you see reason!**" she called, making Odie turn around; her curly hair resembling a lion's mane around her dark face.

,,**There is no reason in giving up on him! Why won't you listen!? Dad would've listened to me!**"

,,**I am not him, Odie.**"

,,**You're part of him, mum! You told me you were two parts of one! But maybe all the good in that died with him!" **Odie stormed up the hill. She didn't want to see her mum's face. Odie might as well have slapped her, and she knew it. Jerry quickly stood up, running to Mum Jackson, who looked like she'd faint where she stood. Red's mum looked at her daughter with determination in her green eyes and Red understood immediately, running after Odie without a second thought.

,,**ODIE! Odie, wait for me!**"

Odie couldn't hear Red. The blood rushed in her ears, evident of the adrenaline and rage that poured through her veins. She was aware of her heartbeat, and her speed picked up to match the rhythm. A pointless effort, since her heart merely sped up.

Red could see that Odie didn't plan on stopping her run anytime soon, so she just prayed that she could keep up with her. Odie's dad had been a hunter most of his life, and he had taught Odie to move freely around obstacles. She had, in a very early age, gone with her dad into the Bayou; Jerry had not wanted to, and Da Jackson hadn't been one to force his kids into what they didn't want to do. But this had also done that Odie was the fastest runner Red had ever seen – making it quite hard to chase her through New Orleans.

And sure enough; after who-knows how many corners, the purple flares of Odie's skirt was nowhere to be seen. Red breathed heavily as she squatted down, putting her index fingers to her temple. Where would Odie go when she was depressed? A lot of places were special to her, so Red would have to systematically go through them all...

No, wait. Red's eyes opened once more, blinking.

,,**Odie is nothing if not punctual. The sun is nearing its highest, so she'll be there.**"

* * *

Odie splashed her face with the water from the bucket, breathing heavily. She couldn't enter while looking like her pet just died. She looked at her reflection in a store's window, practicing a smile.

,,**You can do it, Odie. Smile!**" she ordered herself. After a few tries, she managed to make it seem somewhat trustworthy, and she decided that _that_ would have to do.

She walked a bit further down the street, opening the door with a smile plastered on her face. She smiled at Mr. Owens, already in the process of sweeping the floors, and he looked up at the sound of the bell. But he stopped himself before being able to say his greeting.

Odie could see he knew something was wrong. And he could, without a doubt, see that she knew. They looked each other in the eye a little bit, before Mr. Owens smiled a kind smile, nodding.

,,**Good day, Odie. Ready to get to work?**"

This simple greeting was enough. Odie could hear his resignation; his acceptance of her wish to not speak of what was wrong. And as tears silently rolled down her cheeks, she smiled the most earnest smile she had smiled all day, and nodded.

,,**Ready for duty, Sir.**"

They worked in a companionable silence for a while; Odie manning the bar to check the contents of the bottles and replacing any broken or empty ones, while Mr. Owens completed the cleaning of the floor. But at some point, while doing just that, Mr. Owens began whistling. Odie looked behind her at the sound, and noticed that he was looking at her at the same time. She smiled, as she noticed the melody. It was a well-known children's song, and so Odie began whistling with him.

Her mood rose with the tune, which had no doubt been Mr. Owens intention.

Outside, Red looked through the small window in the door, seeing Odie's smile growing as she and her employer began dancing around the bar to the melody they whistled. She saw her laugh as the man began treating the mop as a microphone stand, and she began dancing to the song he sang quite horribly.

Red smiled slightly, scratching her scalp.

,,**Oh well, I assume it won't matter if I wait to talk to her 'till evenin',**" she speculated, as she turned around. The day was long, and it was less likely Odie would cause a scene when she was at work. So now, all Red needed to do was pass time until she could come to talk Odie into come back to face her mum.

_That_ was the real problem.

Not that Odie or her Mum would still be angry. No, they calmed down relatively quickly. But that Mum Jackson was too proud to seek Odie, and Odie would be too ashamed and scared to go back. She knew she had gone over the line with what she said, but it was Red's job to make her move her ass and apologize to her mum.

Red sighed deeply, as she stopped at the street corner, looking around for something to do. She had her work cut out for her.

* * *

That evening, everyone in the bar could see that Odie wasn't in the best mood. But she was definitely better off than she had been when she came to work earlier. She was glad she worked for five more hours than the bar was open.

,,**Odie?**" an aging man called, and she quickly turned around from her current talk with two young men at the bar; who was trying to flirt with her, obviously. But she hadn't really paid undue notice to them, as she was definitely _not_ in the mood for advances tonight.

,,**Yes Mr. Harold?**" The old man smiled a wide smile, petting Odie on her thigh. She had gotten used to the old men doing that, and she had stopped paying any notice. They were mostly harmless, and if not, she had enough friends in here to make it a death trap for any unwanted suitors.

,,**Another pint, darling,**" he asked and Odie giggled, nodding. And when she went to the bar to get the newest order, she froze at the girl who sat at the bar waiting for her. Red smiled slightly, waving at her. Odie returned the slight smile. It was always so awkward between the two when one of them had been sad earlier; the other knew it was their responsibility to cheer them up, but mostly they could also understand the need to be sad.

,,**Hi Red.**"

Red nodded, handing a pint to her. Odie furrowed her brow, and Red laughed at this. But Odie accepted the pint, before going to Mr. Harold with it. After that, she came to the bar and dragged Red into the backroom.

And when they got out there, Odie opened up.

,,**I know I have to go back to mum, apologizing to her, but... I can't do it this time. I can't back down,**" Odie said hurriedly. Red giggled at the insistent look her friend had on her face, but Odie still pouted at the giggle: Here she was all serious-like, but Red just laughed!

In the end, Red wanted to know why _this_ particular problem was where Odie wanted to draw the line. After all, it was just a man.

,,**Because the reason she is worried is all wrong; she is worried that Theta is just hoping to use me and then dump me dead behind a container. It's not like that! We're friends, we've met TWO times! He's married too, and I'm just not the kinda girl to become infatuated with a guy after two meetings.**"

Red nodded, seeing Odie's view of the problem.

,,**So why not just tell her that?**"

,,**Don't you think I've TRIED!?**"

Red raised her hands, trying to calm Odie down.

,,**There there, Odie, I'm no enemy; Stop pacing around like a caged dog.**" Odie didn't like the idea, but after a serious look from Red, she smacked her butt down on the bench next to Red. Red patted her knee with a smile.

,,**Your mum ain't unreasonable, Odie. Explain to her what you think, WITHOUT yellin', and that nothin' she says will make you give up. If, in the end, she won't listen, you can sleepover at my place, or here!**" Red said, and Odie looked at her with doubt in her eyes.

,,**But what if mum will NEVER back down?**" Red shrugged.

,,**She's family; she has to, because she doesn't wanna lose you. But most importantly; you can't do anything else, 'cause you can't lose yourself.**"

Odie felt her chest tighten as Red quoted her, and she threw her arms around her friend's neck.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D While I attempt to figure out how to deal with the problem in the next chapter, it might be a bit longer until I update next time x) Please review if you have any constuctive criticism, praise or any ideas you could want featured in the next chapter :D I will think on everything you write, promise! Look forward to the next chapter ^^**


	5. Compromises and Promises

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. Well, here is what I've worked on to solve Odie's little crisis :) I hope it's good enough. And thank you, SO MUCH, MissLizziebeth, for reviewing! It warmed my heart :3 Read on!

In the end, Odie did not go home that evening. She understood full well that she couldn't avoid her mum forever, but she felt inclined to at least indicate that this argument was more serious than all the past ones. That's why she asked Mr. Owens to let her sleep in the bar that evening, and he agreed quite readily. Odie suspected him of having listened in on her and Red's conversation, but he would adamantly refuse that accusation when she voiced her suspicion.

So in the end, after her and Mr. Owens had finished cleansing the bar of the worst spills and shards of broken mugs; Odie stayed behind as Mr. Owens locked the door. He revealed that he lived a bit further down the street, so if Odie needed anything at all, she was more than welcome to come and disturb him.

And when Odie was left in the dark bar, she wandered amongst the tables for a bit, thinking everything over. She wondered if her family was worried about her; Jerry was, of course, but what about her mum? She supposed she was, deep down, but she most likely wouldn't show it until she was alone. She was a proud woman, after all.

That was the bit where Odie resembled her the most.

Before Odie could become seriously depressed, she clapped her cheeks hard, insistently shaking her head to force the sad thoughts away. She would broker peace with her mum the following day, but for now; she should get ready to sleep. She went into the back, where Mr. Owens told her there were plenty of blankets to keep her warm through the night.

The damp, stale air in the back room needed some getting used to, but soon Odie was checking through every closet and trunk in the room. It was a small room, barely bigger than her own; white sheets covered most of the furniture, but after they were off, Odie could see that it was a sort of storage room. There were many spare stools and tables stacked at the eastern-most wall, opposite to the wall with closets, containing spare uniforms, and the bench on which she and Red had sat earlier that evening. There was also a dusty old mirror hanging above the bench, and Odie could almost think she saw moving shades inside the mirror.

It was probably the faint light that played tricks on her; the moonlight could barely enter the small room through the single square window high above her head. Odie found the blankets Mr. Owens had mentioned in a large chest in the corner of the room, but she could smell the dust settled in their folds. She nodded slowly, as she gathered all the dark brown blankets and white sheets into her arms, and walked back into the bar. She put the large bundle on one of the tables closest to the bar, and began to beat the dust out of each piece; this was done by draping the blanket or sheet over the bar and beating it with both hands.

It was a meticulous job, and Odie found that she got so focused on the job, that she was done much earlier than she had thought. Perhaps there hadn't been that much to do as she had thought? The bundle had merely seemed bigger because it was all mashed together.

Then came the job of making her bed for the night.

She would sleep in the back room, and after a long while of draping sheets around the tables and folding blankets, she had made herself a nice little tent. All the white sheets had been draped out on the table; creating a shield from the light coming through the window. Inside the small tent, two blankets were spread out on the floor to spare her from sleeping directly on it, while another was folded into a pillow, and two were reserved for pulling on top of her as a duvet.

It didn't look as inviting as her bed at home, but it wasn't the worst place she had slept. And as she crawled into the tent, she put her head on the pillow and almost instantly fell asleep; dreaming peculiar dreams of shades and colors swirling around in unknown patterns.

,,**This looks quite cozy.**"

Odie opened her eyes from her lazy business of sleeping with one eye open. She looked at Mr. Owens face, as he stuck it into her small tent. She smiled slightly, nodding.

,,**Took me a while, but if you just leave it like this, that would be marvelous,**" she commented, making Mr. Owens laugh out loud.

,,**I might just use this place for some afternoon naps myself, and leave you to all the cleaning,**" he teased, making Odie wrinkle her nose.

,,**If that's what you'll use my hard work for, then please tear it down as soon as possible,**" she instructed, as she crawled out of hiding. Mr. Owens stood up, chuckling at her indignant attitude. She seemed happier after a good night's sleep.

Odie jumped into the bar with an energetic look in her eyes, and when a peculiar smell reached her nose, she furrowed her forehead.

,,**Mr. Owens, what's that smell?**" she asked curiously and her employer came out from the backroom, looking at her extremely confused. But as soon as he knew what smell she talked about, he grinned.

,,**Coffee, bacon and eggs. Breakfast.**"

Odie stared at the tall, white man with a weird look on her face.

,,**What's coffee?**"

Turned out coffee was a rather bitter beverage, originating in Turkey. Mr. Owens informed her that it would take some getting used to, but it was good to wake up to in the morning. Odie personally felt it needed something sweeter – perhaps sugar or milk – and Mr. Owens laughed, finding a milk flask from beneath the bar. With milk in it, coffee actually WAS drinkable. Who'd have known?

The food in itself was delicious. It had been a long time since Odie had felt as full as she had right then. She clapped her full stomach with a delighted sound, and Mr. Owens laughed from the other side of the bar.

,,**Thanks for the food. Did you make it?**" Odie asked, and the man shook his head with a silly smile on his face.

,,**Nah, my wife did. She is a rather amazing cook, isn't she?**" he asked with a glisten in his eyes. Odie blinked, trying to imagine a Mrs. Owens, but all she accomplished was imagining Mr. Owens in a dress, which she would rather forget ever thinking of. Right now.

,,**She is! Tell her she can make food to me any time; I'll eat you out of the house,**" she teased, as Mr. Owens smiled widely at her. Odie realized she didn't really know anything about Mr. Owens, even though she had worked for him for little less than half a year already. She should take the time to talk with him about his family at some point; when her own family life was quite sorted out. Now that she thought of it!

,,**Mr. Owens, what time is it?**"

,,**Half past 10, why?**"

,,**Is it all right if I come back a bit late for cleaning up the bar? I have something I need to do,**" Odie admitted, forming a game plan in her head. Of course Mr. Owens gave her leave to do just that, and Odie was soon soaring down the streets of New Orleans, a very particular place in mind.

,,**Mum? Odie's back.**"

Mum Jackson slowly looked up from the gumbo she was making, and looked at her children in the door. Jerry had an arm around Odie's shoulder, and the young woman was smiling at her, her hands hiding the apology behind her back. She always did that when she had said something and felt guilty; she'd get a small thing, just something to show that she was sorry.

And as Odie pulled out her gift, her mum smiled a teethy grin.

It was a white pansy. A flower symbolizing forgiveness and loving thoughts. A few steps was all that was needed for Mum Jackson to come to her daughter's side, putting her arms around Odie. Jerry smiled at the reconciling scene in front of him, and quickly left the two to themselves; he would stay at Red's place for an hour or two.

As the two women sat on the couch, Odie pulled up her legs to her chest. Her mum looked at her for a few seconds, before sighing.

,,**You haven' com' back, 'cause you changed yer mind, have you?**"

Odie shook her head.

,,**No. I've come back because I want us to find even ground,**" she explained, and her mum nodded. If Odie still hadn't seen reason, she most likely wouldn't. Mum Jackson didn't like the idea of Odie hanging onto this man; she was afraid he would do nothing but hurt Odie. But she doubted she could do anything to convince her daughter of said thing, and who knew? Even mothers were wrong sometimes.

,,**I'm listenin'.**"

,,**You don't want me to be hurt, and I don't want to throw the friendship I'm building with Theta away. If you will understand this, and trust me; I promise that I will be very careful.**"

Her mum smiled; reaching out for her. Odie leaned into her, letting the smell of spices and soap envelop her.

,,**I want you to be careful; but I also want you to promise me somethin'. I want you to promise to be there at evening service; every day, no matter what happens. It is an important time for everyone, and we like to have you there.**"

Odie looked up at her mum. She was smiling, but there was a misty curtain covering her dark eyes.

,,**No matter what comes up, let me believe that you will always place family first.**"

And as she could see tears beginning to well up in her mum's eyes, Odie gave her word.

As it would turn out, there was good reason for Odie to promise her mum that. Not even a week passed, before a very peculiar man turned up at the bar's doorstep – with a young lady in tow. Odie was singing up on the stage, an upbeat dance that had many of the couples in the bar that night up and jiving around the floor, to the amusement of the singles. A few young ones also invited each other out for a dance – who knew, perhaps one day they'd tell their kids that it was the song of a young African American girl who brought them together.

Mr. Owens was the first to talk to him.

The girl sat at the nearest table, glancing around at all the surrounding people with wide eyes. It was like she had never seen people before. Her short dark hair was cut in a rather boyish faction, but her large eyes showed a clear wit and a feminine mind. She was dressed in a striped jumper and a pair of trousers – which was weird enough.

The man had hair as white as snow, and his eyes were large and dark. Upon his head was a fur hat, and his body was clad in a suit, dark as black.

,,**Why hello, young man. Might I enquire as to when I might be able to talk with Odie?**"

Mr. Owens looked up, taking in the man in front of him. And just as Odie would later, it didn't take him long to piece things together.

,,**Heavens man! You've bloody gone and done it again!**"

The man raised his eyebrows and Mr. Owens pointed accusingly at him with a finger.

,,**You've gone and aged faster than normal again! Odie told me of the last time you met, yes she did!**"

,,**Did she now?**"

,,**Well, you **_**are**_** the young man with the ginger beer, right?**"

Another raised eyebrow.

,,**Is **_**that**_** what I am called now? How very degrading,**" he pointed out.

,,**Grandfather?**"

The two men looked at the girl who had entered with the elder man; now standing next to him. Mr. Owens widened his eyes.

,,**This is your granddaughter? I must say, young lady, you look nothing like your grandfather did when he came here the first time,**" he admitted, this making the girl widen her eyes even more.

,,**You knew my grandfather when he was young?**"

The old man put an arm around his granddaughter's shoulders, shaking her a bit.

,,**There there, dear, time is funny around here. Although it has been many hundreds of years for us, it has only been... How long has it been, Mr. Owens?**"

Mr. Owens was baffled.

,,**Not more than half a year.**"

The girl gasped loudly, making another female giggle.

,,**That wasn't quite the answer you expected, was it?**"

When the girl turned around, her dark eyes met a large pair of equal darkness. Odie winked at the girl, having overheard large bits of the conversation – and the rest, she could guess.

A small smile spread on the old man's face when he saw Odie, and she smiled back at him; only wide enough for her eyes to smile as well.

,,**Hello Theta.**"

,,**Hello Odie.**"

**AND! That marks the first appearance of the Doctor, as we know him, from the TV-series! Finally, he's an old man x) I can feel we're getting somewhere! Again, I should make it clear: If you have any ideas, any praise, any criticism; review! And if you have a fancy plot-twist you think would be interesting for Odie to encounter, do please either review or PM me :D I am always eager to expand the events that I will put poor Odie through! See you later!**


	6. The Stubborn, The Childish

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. Now! I've tried out something different with this chapter! A few changes my new favourite person in the world, MissLizziebeth, suggested I try out. If you preferred the old one, do PM or something to tell me so, and I'll figure something out x) personally, I like not having to bold everything. But yeah, thanks to her for reviewing, once more, and being the VERY first follower of this story! :D This is in dedication to her! Hopefully the Doctor is more in character here x)

Odie, Theta and the granddaughter left the bar, the old man insisting that Odie walk with them for a little while. Not long after they had left, Odie looked at the young girl with a kind smile.

"What's your name, dear?" she asked. The girl seemed doubtful for a few minutes, and then looked up at her grandfather. He just chuckled lightly, a peculiar laugh. Odie blinked a bit, not getting the joke, but then she remembered.

"Oh! I mean what you're called, of course!" She had almost completely forgotten about the whole name-business on Gallifrey. The girl smiled.

"My name is Gallifreyan for the Earth-plant Rose, so you may call me that for the moment. I have no nicknames. I'm not old enough to begin at the Academy yet," the girl explained.

"But, Theta, I thought you said Time Lords began at the Academy at the age of 9? That's where they first gaze into the... The... Oh, what did you call it!?" Rose gasped at this, staring at her grandfather.

"Grandfather, how much have you told her!?" The old man looked quite thoughtful, but it most certainly wasn't thoughts about the frustration visible on his granddaughter's face.

"Everything, dear. _Everything_." Odie smiled, crookedly. It appeared Theta had broken exactly as many Laws as he had said back when he explained everything to her.

"But- If the Council finds out-"

"Then they simply mustn't, must they? Hm?" Theta asked with wide eyes and a sly smile on his face. At the same time, Odie finally remembered what Theta had called the phenomenon.

"THE UNTEMPERED SCHISM! That's it, isn't it!?" The old man laughed heartily at his young friend's enthusiasm, and patted her shoulder.

"That is correct, my dear Odie. Absolutely correct!"

Rose looked doubtfully at the young lady her grandfather had told her of all her life. She seemed so... Youthful. Her grandfather was already 440 years old. How could this... This _child_ be the Odie Jackson he had told helped him on the right course in his childhood?

As Theta led the way, Rose walked next to Odie, who noticed the stare the young girl sent her... Continuously.

"What's wrong, Rose? Somethin' on my face?" Odie asked with a small smirk, and the girl quickly shook her head; realizing how rudely she was behaving.

"Oh, no! Not at all... It's just... This is my first time seeing a human, you see," she explained, and Odie giggled.

"I personally don't see the importance; you people – Ah! No, Theta corrected me on that last time – _we_ look just like Time Lords. How come it's so important to see your first human? When just looking at our appearance and phys... Phys..." Odie tightened her eyes together, trying to remember the word.

"Physiology, Odie."

"Ah! Yes, thank you Theta! What I said, Rose, was that when just looking at our appearance and physiology, we are pretty much identical."

Rose smiled at the behavior the two older people had. This thought made her widen her eyes; now that she thought of it...

"How old are you, Miss Jackson?"

Odie widened her eyes.

"Oh no, Rose, do not call me that! I'm Odie, just plain old Odie. Miss Jackson is my mum. But I'm 18."

Rose stopped in her track, and Odie stopped as well; looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Theta also stopped, looking at the two girls with amusement in his old wrinkled face, leaning against his cane. He had looked forward to seeing his beloved granddaughter meeting Odie; he had deduced it would be a quite amusing encounter. And healthy for Rose too.

"18!? But you're only a child then!" Odie sighed deeply.

"Oh no, not you too, Rose. I'm almost an adult by human standards!" she complained, making Rose eyes widen even more, if possible. The sheer idea of 18 being an adult age baffled her.

"But-! H-How long do humans live?" she asked, insulted at the thought. Odie shrugged, shaking her head.

"It's very different. Anything from 40 to 100, depending on the circumstances."

Odie could swear Rose seemed ready to faint right then and there. Theta put an arm around his distressed granddaughter, hushing her.

"There there, my dear, let's not think more on it before we reach the TARDIS, okay? Then you can talk all you will," he promised. Odie giggled with joy at this mention.

"I get to see the inside of the TARDIS!?" she squealed, and Theta laughed, happily.

"Well, of course you will! You'll be travelling with me, won't you?"

Odie could die then and there. And Theta could see the change in her face.

"Won't you?" he repeated, his face suddenly worried.

Odie couldn't listen. She couldn't believe she had to do this. She had told her mum, promised her, not a week ago. She hadn't dreamed it would actually come to this. Not so soon. Theta was so happy at the thought of her travelling with him, and now she had to break that.

"I can't."

"What?"

"It's just that; I can't."

"Of course you can, don't be silly."

"No, listen to me!" This was said loudly, and with frustration in her voice. It was the very first time Theta had heard that in Odie's voice. And as he looked at Odie's face, contorted in what looked like pain, he knew she was serious.

"I can't."

The two looked at each other, gazing into each other's eyes for a while. The dark brown of Theta's were cooled with an analyst's gaze, trying to reach into the depths of Odie's mind. The equally black of Odie's were glistening with emotions – despair that Theta had asked her, indecisiveness because she really wanted to go, see the universe, but she knew she couldn't, and most importantly; anger. Anger that with everything that had gone right in the last year was tumbling down on her now.

"Oh..."

Theta looked down.

"Well then... I guess this is it, then."

Odie blinked.

"Theta..."

"No, no."

"Theta, let me explain!"

"You don't have to. Goodbye."

Theta led Rose away from Odie, who just stood there, biting her lip. And as she always did when she was frustrated, Odie lashed out.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The yell made Theta freeze in his tracks. But not for long... He just turned around, raising an eyebrow at Odie, adding to her frustration.

"Don't dismiss me like this! You're acting like a child!"

"Oh, I am acting like a child, you say? I am not the one yelling to get what I want, am I?"

Odie could just about bash in his face for that sentence.

"But you ARE! You are mentally _screaming_. Don't you think I can feel it? This _pressure_." She demonstrated it with her hands. She didn't know quite what it was, but Theta was in her head, and it hurt.

"Am I now? How very interesting..." He put fingers to his chin. Odie stared at him, incredulous. What was WRONG with him!?

"You!" She pointed accusingly at him. "You are an INSUFFERABLE old man! I am trying to talk to you, and you-"

"You? You what?" he urged her on. "I'm not yelling back? Well quite obviously, that would be a rather childish thing to do, wouldn't you agree?"

Odie groaned. What was funny about this was that it was Theta's attitude that frustrated her. He was acting like an idiot, and he knew it! How could this have happened? Why was she yelling at him?

"But I AM a child! I'm only 18, and you ask me to go gallivanting around the universe with you, and-"

Theta blew up his cheeks at this, seeming infinitely insulted.

"_Gallivanting_? Young woman, I am certainly not _gallivanting_ anywhere! I am travelling, as I told you all those years back, and _you_ won't come with me! Simple as that."

Odie stomped into the ground.

"But it's _not_ simple, that's just it! I _want_ to go with you, I do!"

"So why don't you?"

"BECAUSE!"

Tears were trailing down Odie's face now; tears of frustration and anger. And what really started this? Odie couldn't quite remember – her thoughts weren't going on a straight course, they were all jumbled around the place.

Theta looked angry too. His face didn't show it in the magnitude Odie's did, but she could see it. The anger in his dark eyes. They were like fire, and ice, and rage. Like the night, and the storm in the heart of the sun.

"Because I made a promise. And I keep my promises. So I can't come with you."

Theta shook his head, his eyes closed.

"What promise?"

Odie smiled sadly.

"My mum – she was worried about _us_. She made me promise..."

"What? What did she make you promise?"

"... That I would always put my family first, and never leave them behind."

Silence fell.

And nothing more was said.

Theta just turned around, walking back to his granddaughter and leading her along. And Odie could only watch the figure of his back, as he left her on the street corner. And she sighed deeply.

"What a wonderful evening."

When she came back, straight home, it was clear to everyone she was not herself. She tried her best to pretend, of course, but to no avail. Red and Jerry saw it instantly, and the others noticed it the second she spoke. As promised, she participated in the evening service; but for the second time in her life, she went straight to her room afterwards.

And when she did, she sat on the bed, looking up at the stars. Would you believe, she actually tried to see if she could see a moving light, thinking it might be the TARDIS. A single tear trickled down her cheek as she punched into her pillow.

"Insufferable old man... That's what he is, it is!"

And as she fell asleep at the windowsill, trying to the very last to locate the TARDIS on that vast night sky, so did a grumpy old man mutter to himself: "Insufferable child!"

So yeah... I know, this was my shortest chapter to date, but it didn't feel right to continue it after this XD I had to watch the first episode again, to see how the Doctor would react to humans who've annoyed him - let's admit it, when watching the future Doctors, you kinda forget what an insufferable old man he was at the beginning ;) Well, was he in character? :D Do please tell me! Look forward to the next chapter, which will either be all depression from Odie's side, or maybe I'll make it super long and also feature them making up there XD So many ideas, so many plans! It's a thing - respect the thing! Buh-bye!


	7. A Day Off in New Orleans

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. I am so excited about everyone's reaction to this chapter, so I won't spoil anything! Read on! HURRY! :D**

"So he got angry?"

Mum Jackson, Red and Jerry had, of course, wondered what had been wrong with Odie the previous night, and as Odie sipped on the tea her mum had made her, her body curled into a ball so she could sit comfortably; the three others sat in the couch, trying to grasp what she had said.

"Yes. But I'm sure there was something else that was bothering him; Theta isn't unreasonable, just a bit stubborn," Odie tried to make sense. She was certain Theta wouldn't just be angry because she couldn't come travelling with him... Would he?

"I think you did the right thing, hun," her mum said with a small smile, and Odie nodded. She smiled a bit herself.

"Perhaps it's good like this, mmh? So Theta knows he can't just come stopping by each time he needs me and then wait 50 years to come again?" she asked with a great effort, trying to see the bright side of her current predicament. Red still looked worried.

"You think he'll come back, Odie?"

"Of course he will."

Her answer was prompt.

"He can't stay mad forever."

She was adamant. At some point, Theta would come back to her, and until then she'd just have to make do! Yes! Full of energy, Odie jumped up of the armchair, nodding with great enthusiasm. She spooked the three in the couch with her sudden mood swing, and her face cracked in a large grin.

"I think it's been far too long since I've had a day off!" She speeded around the coffee table, upon which she had put her tea cup, and she stopped in front of Jerry and Red, a light burning in her eyes.

"I'll go to the bar, say I'm taking the day off, and _then_: The three of us go have fun!"

Mum Jackson laughed as Red eagerly agreed, while Jerry seemed crestfallen.

"Bu-But! I have work, Odie!"

Odie smiled cheekily at her big brother.

"Then you'll just have to take a day off too, won't you? Otherwise, you might wake up with toads on your pillow tomorrow," she threatened sweetly, as she quickly skipped out of the house. Red and the others looked after her, Mum Jackson standing up to wash up her tea cup.

"You think she'll be okay, Mum Jackson?" Red asked hesitantly, and the old woman chuckled.

"'Course she will. She's my daughter, ain't she?"

Mr. Owens was more than willing to give Odie a day off, as she had thought. They had known each other for – oh, how long – almost a year now, and he knew when Odie needed some time to be herself. This was one of those days, but contrary to the other times, Odie was unwilling to share what had caused it.

Mr. Owens wasn't someone who liked to stick his nose in other people's business, but he was curious as well. But when he told of his worry, Odie just shook her head with a silly smile. "You're a worrywart, Mr. Owens," she said. "I'll be back at work tomorrow. See you then!"

And then she quickly exited the bar, looking up at the blue sky above her. White clouds were dozing off up there, moving far too slowly to be actively doing their job. Odie smiled.

"I'm gonna go wild today."

She looked around her quickly, to ascertain no one was looking, before darting around the corner, and quickly pulling off her skirt. Beneath she had a pair of trousers on, and she stuffed the skirt into her bag; in turn taking up the cap she had stuffed into it earlier. She put it on her head, and took off all the colored jewelry, stopping it into the bag as well.

"A little detour won't matter before I go back to pick up Red and Jerry, will it?" she asked herself with a grin, before she began climbing up the side of the bar-building. She reached the roof quite easily, looking around. She grinned a bit when she saw her target; the bayou. She could just barely see it on the horizon.

"How long will it take? Hmm... Too long, I should think. Maybe I can lure Red to come with me? If so, it'll be after dinner. Then Jerry won't be a spoilsport," she giggled, before looking down on the street beneath her. She easily located the nearest windowsill; enabling her to come down much faster than she had come up.

So that was the plan – fooling around with Jerry and Red, go home, eat dinner, and then drag Red to the bayou. Was a sound enough plan, if you asked Odie, but it was a necessity Red would come with her. And as she knew Red couldn't resist, Odie's day seemed like it'd be a lot of fun.

"You're gonna fall in, Jerry! Get back here!" Odie yelled with a grin on her face, before a big splash of water was thrown at her. She screamed; it was cold! She fought the moisture out of her eyes, and saw the sinner; a flash of Red, as the girl named as such bowed down to scoop another liter of water onto her. Odie quickly evaded by jumping down from the mole, into the knee-deep water, and splashing back at her.

The two girls, screaming, caught Jerry's attention. He was balancing on some stones further out in the water, but as he turned around to find out why the girls screamed, he fell into the water. The two girls paused their fun, staring at Jerry who spat a lot of water out, as he coughed. They laughed even louder than before.

Jerry found it extremely embarrassing, and so he decided to exact revenge; by chasing the two girls around. With his long legs, he had the girls at a disadvantage in the water, and he soon caught Odie by the waist, lifting her up. She screamed as she kicked out into the air, and the extra force made the two fall backwards into the water.

Red laughed at the two, pointing at them. They looked ridiculous; Odie quickly got away from her brother, who had been forced underwater by her. He really looked funny.

After many hours of playing in the water, the trio decided enough was enough. They practically crawled onto the shore, exhausted from all the running. Their legs were sore, but they were all smiling. They were dripping wet from head to toe, and Odie and Red had – luckily – had the sense to put brown vests on top of their white blouses; it would've been embarrassing to walk back to the settlement otherwise.

Of course, even if they had vests on, the sight of three soaked 'immigrants' was enough to make most of the whites look down their noses. Red was equally dissatisfied with the whites.

"Snobs, the lot o' 'em," she scowled, and Jerry patted her damp hair; which curled even more when it was wet, believe it or not.

"Don' worry about them, Red; their loss," he grinned, and Odie nodded excitedly; the water cascading out of her dark curls. Red and Jerry groaned, as they covered themselves from the water.

"ODIE! Don't ya think we're wet enough already!?" Red asked loudly, and Odie giggled.

"Oh, so you're afraid of a little more water, are you?" she asked with malice in her voice, and Red widened her eyes, slowly backing away from Odie.

"Oh no! No no no, you don't dare!" she said quickly, and Odie giggled.

"When have I ever backed away from a dare?" she stated, more than asked; and as such, she began chasing Red. Red, of course, had the sense to flee in the general direction of the settlement. Jerry rolled his eyes, before running after the two girls.

When they arrived at the trams, they had been severely air-dried, so it was no problem to get into the vehicle; otherwise, the chauffeur might not have been very keen on the idea. Compared to the one hour long walk back to the settlement, the tram let that duration be cut down to 23 minutes.

As soon as the trio arrived on the hill, they could see the campfire had been lit; that meant they had arrived at home just in time for afternoon service. The three laughed at the coincidence, before running down the hill to join the rest of the settlement around the fire.

The rest of the evening passed quietly. The afternoon service was the same as always; Red's grandma told the stories from the old family bible, Red's ma and volunteers sang the psalms and in the end, Mum Jackson provided the biscuits and the wine. After the service, the families retreated to their cottages.

The Jackson family had gumbo for dinner. It tasted great; one of Odie's favorite dishes. After the meal, Odie put her plan into works.

"Mom?" she pleaded, and Mum Jackson grinned.

"What do ya want now, kid?" she asked, knowing the particular tone in Odie's voice. The girl smiled.

"I was wondering if me and Red could go exploring before evening service," she speculated and Jerry's head shot up like lightning.

"In the Bayou!?"

All the Jacksons' knew what 'exploring' meant. Odie nodded.

"Yeah. It's been a while since I last went, and I thought that now was the chance, since I'm off work tonight," she explained. She found it funny that Jerry was more against the idea than her mum was. Then again, Mum Jackson knew that Odie could fend for herself in the Bayou. She had been taught by the best.

"You must be cra-"

"'Course you can."

Jerry widened his eyes at his mum's acceptance, and Odie squealed like a little girl.

"Thank you, Mum!" she said loudly, running around the table to embrace the old woman. Not two more minutes passed before Odie charged out of the cottage. If they were to explore, they needed to get cooking immediately. Evening service suddenly seemed much too close.

Jerry was ready to get into a huge discussion with Mum Jackson, but before he had the chance to instigate one, the woman took his one ear between two fingers, dragging him towards the sink.

"You, lil mum hen, you can help your ma clean the dishes."

Red was easy to convince. She didn't like the idea of going into the Bayou so late, but she liked the idea of Odie going alone even less. This is why Odie easily persuaded her friend to come to the swamp with her that evening. It was pitch black, at least until Odie's eyes got used to it. The Bayou almost felt like a second home to her – she had come there far too much with her father in the past for anything else.

"Where's the boat, Odie?" Red asked, with the slightest shiver in her voice, and Odie looked back. Red was always on edge in the beginning. She'd relax when they got further into the swamp. Odie grabbed her hand, tightening her grip ever slightly to comfort her friend, before leading her towards the cover she had put over the boat.

You couldn't just leave a boat on the shore, it would get stolen for some reason. That is why, after her father's third boat had gotten stolen, he had devised a very clever cover – created by a net of many different sorts of vegetation – to cover the light brown transport.

Just the sight of the boat was enough to calm Red considerably – Odie had walked through the Bayou before, climbing where walking was impossible, so she didn't mind. But Red was too afraid of the possibility of running into alligators to go anywhere on foot.

It was an irrational fear, of course. In all her time exploring the Bayou, Odie had only run into two alligators. The smell was much worse. The foul odor from the water was enough to keep most curious minds away, but Odie didn't mind, particularly. Sure, it was uncomfortable walking around in the stink, but her curiosity was greater than her discomfort.

Red eagerly got into the boat, and Odie pushed it out from the shore; quickly jumping into it before it could glide too far away from shore. Red's sense of adventure was coming back to her as soon as the water began splashing against the sides of the boat.

"Which way are we going today?" she asked curiously, and Odie shrugged. She hadn't thought about that, actually. Her and Red had been almost everywhere in the Bayou, at least the part Odie's dad had mapped. Odie fished up the map from the bottom of the boat, from inside the safe container installed beneath the bench she was seated on, and she smoothed out the paper.

"Hmm... We've been down the Southern Passage a lot, how about we try the North-Eastern this time? We could see if we could map the Foggy Marsh? Dad never went in there," Odie wondered out-loud, and Red smiled, excited.

"Sounds like a plan! Let's go."

The two girls began paddling in the right direction, and as they got through the North-Eastern Passage, Odie's eyes began scanning the water. Red was always the one to ensure they got where they had decided, while Odie was the one to keep an eye on their surroundings. Red especially ordered her to keep an eye out for alligators.

As they neared the unmapped area her father had dubbed 'The Foggy Marsh', Odie began to see why. Although the rest of the bayou had had clear enough weather, a weird fog began just in front of the shore. It wasn't thick or anything, but just a fog. Odie's dad had never been superstitious, but he had always said 'something felt wrong' about that place.

Odie and Red both felt it; a slight tingling on the back of their necks. But contrary to Odie's old man, they didn't feel frightened; they felt excited. Odie swung over the side of the boat when they were closer to the shore, pushing the boat onto dry land – or, as dry as swamp land can be.

"How should we go about this?"

Odie looked back at Red, who had come up from the boat. Odie looked up at the sky, and noted the position of the moon. They still had an hour or two to explore. She turned back to her friend, a smile on her face.

"Are you all right with splitting up? We'll go far enough away from each other to be able to see more, but not too far. We'll still be able to see each other," she suggested, and Red nodded slowly. So that was what they did. Only once did Red scream, and that was because a toad surprised her. This earned a mocking giggle from Odie, but they were soon looking around again.

It wasn't until they were just about ready to head back they found something.

"Hey! Odie, get over here!" Red said loudly, and Odie quickly moved to her friend. Red was holding up a pure purple stone, you could see right through it. Odie whistled, as she took the stone from Red.

"Have you ever seen such a stone before?" she asked, and Odie shook her head.

"No, I haven't. It's pretty. Think we can find more? We still have a few minutes before we have to go back," Odie suggested, and Red eagerly agreed. The two of them progressed on all four, and soon they found more weird items.

Odie found a piece of metal, one neither of them had ever seen before. It was pitch black, and light as a feather. Red soon thereafter found another similar piece, and when Odie put the two together – to see if they fit – they melted together into one. Red widened her eyes at this sight.

"Wh-What!? That... That's weird, Odie."

Odie couldn't agree more, but she still continued to search. Red had, however, been unnerved by the magic metal.

"Odie, shouldn't we get goin' now? I don' like this place," she commented, and Odie nodded absentmindedly.

"Sure sure, just a second," she said with a wave of her hand, making Red groan. Odie was _impossible_ when she got like this! But then, Red didn't know what Odie knew. Odie knew there were weirder things in the world than metal that merged together. And soon – Odie found one such thing.

"What's this?" she wondered, as she picked up a globe. It was a perfect sphere, looked like a sort of crystal ball. But inside of it was what looked like water with gold in it, swirling around.

"Oh, Odie! Can't we just go!?"

"All right, all right. Don't be in such a rush, I'll come now."

Odie followed Red back to the boat, just once looking back over her shoulder to gaze back in the fog. And she could've sworn she saw a flicker of color. She decided against voicing this to Red; the poor girl seemed scared enough already.

The two girls made it back to the settlement in time for evening service, as they had promised, but they mentioned nothing of their findings to the others. They would most likely pass it off as witchcraft; Red agreed, but Odie didn't.

As the service ended, Odie excused herself to her cottage. At the worried glances, she laughed and assured them she just had a lot of thinking to do. Red didn't know what she did either; she hadn't seen Odie put the ball into her bag.

Odie settled on her bed, carefully pulling the ball out. She twirled it around in her hands, as she looked at the golden substance inside it. It didn't swirl according to her movements, she soon realized. She could hold the ball completely still, and the gold would still swirl around itself. There didn't seem to be a particular pattern to it either.

It couldn't be opened. There was no indentations, scratches or anything on it. Odie sighed, poking the ball with a thoughtful look on her face.

"What are you, hm? Maybe Theta would know," she wondered, looking into the golden patterns. Where was he, she wondered.

Then something happened.

The golden patterns began expanding. Rather than continuing in their lazy dance, the gold spread into the entire sphere, and small figures were made. A bright spot with nine smaller spots away from it, with a ring of glitter separating five of the smaller spots from the bright one. And then a small trail of golden dust began from the third spot on the inside of the ring, trailing out in the space without gold. Odie furrowed her brow.

She had never seen the globe make patterns like that before. What had triggered it?

Before her thoughts got any further, she heard something – a scream. And then another. And then another. And the crackling of fire.

**...**

**So? SO? :D How did you like it?**

**As most of you, hopefully, have gathered, this is Odie's first encounter with alien technology :D Did any of you understand what the bauble was? ;) Well? ****Post a review or send me a PM with your bids, and I'll give you a prize xD Well, I can't physically give you a prize, of course, but I'll post a very big congratulations on my next chapter :D**

**This was my first real cliffhanger o.o Hope the wait won't be too long for you x) See you later! I'm off to write the next chapter *scurries away***


	8. Fixing a Mistake

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. Now! Since no one came with their idea as to what the map was, I won't be mentioning anyone in this foreword, but thanks for reviewing (you know who you are) and thanks for all the favorites and follows I suddenly got :D Read on!**

It brought her back to someplace she didn't want to go back to. A locked space in the back of her head, where fires and screams were accompanying her father's face, along with the snow white cloaks of the KKK. It took a while for Odie to get out of her memory, and when she finally did, it still felt unreal. It was like she was watching everything from the outside. Her mum seemed ready to faint, and only her tight grip on her son's arm kept her up. Jerry's face was knit together in fury, as he saw the fire bellowing around the cottages.

People were fleeing, making sure their entire family was with them. The family. Odie woke up when the O'Hara family – _Red's family _– came running up to them. Red and her mum was crying, her grandma was complaining about the noise and her father seemed ready to shoot something with that hunting rifle he held in his hands.

"What's going on?" Nessa, Mum O'Hara, asked, as she moved to Mum Jackson, to try and keep her up along with Jerry. It had been a long time since the last reported raid; everyone had assumed that the KKK had gone out of business.

"What'dya think's goin' on!? Those blasted racists are burnin' down our homes again," Red's dad boomed, his voice drawing many of the fleeing settlers towards them. Odie shook her head, her eyes mesmerized by the dancing flames. Red looked at her, worried.

"What is it, Odie?" Jerry looked at his sister.

"They're not them."

Her voice was so quiet, only the two heard her. Red furrowed her brow.

"What do you mean?"

Odie looked into Red's eyes, feeling herself live up as she separated her memory from the reality.

"It's not the same. The KKK laugh while burning our homes down, and they proceed a lot quicker, not staying behind at every cottage. If it was the KKK, they should've reached us by now," she explained, and Jerry scowled.

"You can't know for certain!"

"No."

Red blinked, realizing it was her who had interrupted Jerry. She got over her surprise and turned to the man, nodding.

"Odie's right, it's someone else. I saw one o' 'em from my bedroom window. None of them are carryin' torches or anythin'. It looks like the cottages are catching on fire just by being near 'em," she admitted. It was Jerry's turn to furrow his brow.

"All right, suppose they're NOT the KKK. What do they want, then?"

An idea slowly began piecing itself together in Odie's mind, and she quickly retreated back into the cottage. Red looked after her, confused, but waited for her outside.

When Odie got into her room, she knew she was right. The orb was illuminating the room, the golden glow so bright it almost blinded her for a second. They wanted the orb. She quickly grabbed the sphere, before running back to the others. Red recognized the item clutched in Odie's hand immediately. The color drained from her already pale face.

"You brought it back wit' you!?"

Odie nodded.

"And now, I'm fixing the mistake I made. I know they're after this," she said, revealing the sphere to the others. Her mum almost fainted, again, and Red's dad got a serious look on his face.

"You didn't go an' steal that, did ya?" he asked with a threatening voice, and Odie quickly shook her head.

"No, Red and I found it in the bayou."

Mum O'Hara sighed deeply.

"Great! So now, we've got Bayou ghosts burning down our cottages," she commented with barely contained annoyance. She was superstitious. _Very_ superstitious. But Odie wouldn't argue that with her for now.

"I'll go and get them away from here." "WHAT!?" "You guys try to get the rest back and put out the fires."

And away she went. Odie speeded through the settlement, trying to find the source of the ever-spreading fires. She could barely make out Red and Jerry's calls from the crackling of burning wood, but she paid no mind.

When she finally did find the culprits, it wasn't as much because she saw them, as she sensed them. The orb reacted first, growing incredibly hot and it actually vibrated in her hand. Then she felt a sort of pressure on her head, feeling like someone was forcing a pillow down on top of her scalp. And only then did she see them.

They looked human enough, for the moment. Their shapes were human, but she could see the fires through them. They were dressed like actors in stupid costumes, and the cottages just seemed to burst into flames as soon as they looked at them.

"STOP!"

The _creatures_ turned around – at least she thought they did – when she yelled, and she demonstratively held the orb into the air. This caught their attention, if nothing else.

"It's this you want, right!? Then come and get it!"

And that's when she turned around and ran, as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart pounded away, but she had a goal in mind. She didn't know why, but she had an inkling that they _did_ belong in the Bayou – though not in quite as eerie a way as Mum O'Hara suspected – and she was going to get them back there.

She got to the Bayou all well and good, although she had felt this peculiar need to stop and turn around multiple times. It was weird, but she had more urgent things to be thinking about right now. They would catch up to her if she used the boat, so she had to go to the Foggy Marsh on foot. Happy happy, joy joy...

She felt an eerie sensation on her neck, and when she briefly turned her head, she saw a mass of shades in all the colors of the rainbows approaching her. It was the creatures – away from the fire, they were absolutely beautiful. But as she saw the grass at their feet wither and die at their presence, she found it quite compelling to keep running.

She quickly climbed up one of the trees at the shore, and began running through the branches. Most of the trees in the Bayou were large and wild trees, so there was more than enough room for her to run. Once in a while, she'd feel the branches crack beneath her feet, but she never moved slowly enough for it to have any consequence.

She'd sometimes have to stop though, to make sure she was moving in the general direction of the Marsh. It wasn't that hard – she just followed the fog. It grew thicker and thicker the closer she came to the Foggy Marsh, and when she came to the correct amount of fog, she fell down from the tree.

She heaved for air, as she heard the buzzing as the creatures surrounded her in a circle. The fog made them appear less 'ghost-y', but the weird coloring was still enough to have Odie on edge. They were just watching her, waiting for her to make her move. She slowly reached out towards one of them, having the orb in one hand. The gold was flying around inside of it, making one pattern after the other.

"This is yours, right?"

Flickers at the edge of their blurry shapes indicated agitation, as the golden glow reflected on their robes.

'_Do not test your luck, Overlord. You stole that orb from our planet,_'

"I did not. It was just lying around here, and I picked it up! You shouldn't leave stuff lying about if you don't mean to throw it away," Odie said with a scowl on her face. She didn't like being called a thief, by anyone.

Another flicker.

'_Give back the Map of Sundgaard, and we will leave your home in peace._'

Odie furrowed her brow, skeptic. How would she know if they would keep their promise? This concern was voiced, and one of the aliens flew towards her, though stopping before he alarmed her by being too close.

'_I am Ky, Overlord. I speak on behalf of the Solonians._'

Odie blinked. Solonians? She assumed something non-earthly was going on, and they had long since given her the clues that they were, in fact, not from Earth. She hadn't expected to meet aliens, at least not without Theta being there with her.

"Hello Ky. I'm Odie."

The Solonian named Ky nodded, a faint buzz reaching her ears. Was that their version of a smile? They looked like humans, and she could see that his face was smiling, but their aura seemed to tell her just as much as their faces, sometimes even more.

'_You have my word, that we will leave your settlement in peace. We need that orb for our people to survive, so we went to severe lengths to retrieve it. But if the price is that we shall go back and never come back, we will agree to your terms._'

He could be trusted. That's what Odie felt, anyway. So she reached the orb – The Map of Sundgaard – to him, and it floated from her hand to him. The buzzing that commenced was overwhelming. All the Solonians seemed pleased that they had gotten what they looked for, and they all began amassing near the area Odie remembered she found the orb.

"How did you get here, anyway?"

Ky turned around to her, buzzing together with his kinsmen.

'_A distortion in time is to be found in this place. It has connected our two planets for a brief while. It will sever the connection on its own, eventually._'

Odie slowly nodded. She didn't quite get how that was possible, but if he said so. She waved, timidly, after them as they one for one disappeared into nothing, as it looked to her. And just before Ky left, as the last one, he turned around to face her.

'_Goodbye, Overlord Odie. I wish that if we meet again, it will be under amiable circumstances._'

And then he was gone too.

"What were they, Odie?"

Red and Jerry had been watching it all from afar, of course; now that the weird men had gone, they appeared from their hiding place, watching the place they had been seconds before with Odie. Odie shrugged to answer the question.

"Solonians."

"Huh?"

"It doesn't matter. I've fixed my mistake. Let's go back and see what we can do to help the others."

Red and Jerry sensed Odie couldn't tell them much at present; she probably needed to think it all through herself. But Odie herself didn't know what to think. It was all bungled up in her head – what she wouldn't give to have Theta's advice right now.

As soon as they came back the settlement, they were put to work. Fires had to be extinguished, emergency tents had to be put up, so the families, whose cottages had been burned down, would still have a place to sleep that night. Every cottage had two emergency tents in them, so they could always shelter more immigrants if needed, until they had their own cottage build. That's how the settlement had begun, after all.

While the men agreed on the repairs, the women were dealing tea out so everyone would calm down, comforting the children and agreeing on what they could share of dishes and so, to those who now lacked these vital things.

It was very late when Odie finally got to sleep. But she was also very tired when that chance came, so she fell asleep almost immediately.

**So, hope you liked Odie's first encounter with aliens xD The good reader will know just what aliens we are dealing with, and before I get any questions, we meet Ky and the Solonians after the 3rd Doctor has visited them in his timeline x) Ooh, the very first timey-wimey stuff! XD The reason the Solonians' speak is different is, of course, because they're telepathic xD Hope you caught that!**

**Look forward to the next chapter, wherin I PROMISE you, the Doctor will make a magnificent return x)**

**Review, favorite or follow, or whatever you'd like ^^ I get so very happy to see people liking this story 3**


	9. Forgiveness for the Patient

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. I apologize SO many times for the delay _ I was stuck on how to proceed, and when I saw "The Hobbit" my inspiration bolted over there, instead of staying put. But I have agreed that I WILL update, or I will not be allowed to update that story either, so I promise to update regularly :D Read on!**

The repairs on the settlement proceeded quickly. Everyone was eager to discard all evidence of that night, as if it would be gone from their mind when the last remnant of burned wood was gone from the area. Odie found it a silly thought, but it was, no doubt, what cheered up most of the adults.

Thankfully, most of the settlement was ignorant concerning Odie's part in the incident; only Red and Jerry knew what had really happened. The adults just thought she had been brave and lured them away, they didn't know she was the reason they had come in the first place. And Odie preferred it as such; she didn't like the thought of her mum knowing she brought them all in danger with her curiosity.

Jerry and Red had been surprised when she told them that the Solonians were aliens, people living in the sky. They thought her crazy; after all, they did not know what Odie had been told by Theta. And she knew better than to try and convince them.

Concerning her job, Odie took a few nights off in order to help with the repairs, but as soon as she knew her help was no longer needed, she returned to the bar. And to quite the worried bunch, too. Everyone seemed to have been worried sick, though Mr. Owens informed her that they had been quite sure she was all right, and that she would be back before they knew it. Those dear old fools were just making a fuss to let her know they cared about her.

And besides the fuss, Odie also felt like she stopped to talk to the customers more often than usual. They all wanted to hear how she was doing, if she had experienced something exciting. She, of course, always lied; her experience with the Solonians was something she couldn't share with anyone else. More than ever, she missed Theta. He would be the only one who could answer so many of her questions.

As Odie finished another round around the bar, she noted that the time was close to eleven. She heard the bell above the door ring as new customers came in. That was weird enough; it was late for new customers. But the customers were weird as well. They were two young people, a white male and female. The man had chestnut brown hair and a square face, and his clothes was a brown jacket, a black tie and beige trousers. The woman was in a blouse and a tight skirt with shoes with high heels. Her hair was dark and well-tended. They just didn't fit in at the bar.

But who was Odie to judge? She quickly made her way to the two, smiling at them.

"Hello you two. Want me to show you to a table?" she asked, and the two looked at her, smiling.

"You really are beautiful."

The woman's accent was bizarre, to say the least. Odie blinked a bit, before curtsying slowly.

"Uhm, thank you? You too," she giggled.

"Does the name 'Theta Stigma' tell you anything?"

Odie's eyes widened as this sentence came from the man, and for a second, the two thought she had fainted while still standing. But then her hands shot out, grabbed theirs, and she barely remembered to yell she had to go to Mr. Owens before charging out of the bar. She dragged them into the alley next to the bar, looking at them with glistening eyes.

"You know Theta!? Where is he, is he close? How long has it been for him? Is he sti-"

The man held his hand over her mouth, stifling the rest of her endless questions. The woman giggled. From what little the Doctor had told her, this was certainly Miss Jackson. The man, of course, thought the same.

"Let us introduce ourselves first, Miss Jackson. I am Ian Chesterton," "And I am Barbara Wright."

After a brief introduction between the three, Odie had learned that these two were from the 1970's London, and that they had been travelling with her friend, now called The Doctor, for a while. Susan, as his granddaughter now was called, had been trying to get him to go and apologize to Odie for some time, but it wasn't until now he had dared.

And even after all that, he was still too proud to go and fetch her himself.

That's how Odie ended up following two complete strangers through New Orleans that night. She was feverishly straightening her clothes, which she had changed into after hearing she would see Theta again. Her brown trousers were hand-me-downs from Jerry, and therefore far too long for her, and her shirt was one of her white blouses along with a dark brown vest. Two large hoops were put through the holes in her earlobes, and a bracelet with colorful beads was present around her wrist.

She had never been in the part of New Orleans Barbara and Ian led her through. It was the white neighborhood, with all their fancy houses and neatly cut lawns. Odie didn't like it, and she felt like the houses leered at her.

Soon they happened upon a blue box, sitting very suspiciously on a streetcorner. Odie furrowed her brow.

"What is this?"

"It's the TARDIS, in the shape of a Police Box from the 1960's England," Barbara explained and Odie smiled.

"What a weird-looking thing."

"The chameleon circuit is broken!"

The raspy voice whipped out from inside the box, and Odie was too busy forcing her way into the machine to be annoyed at the anger in his voice. She noticed nothing, upon entry, other than the old white-haired man in the black suit. Tears instantly entered her eyes, though a wide smile made her cheeks hurt.

"Theta!" she said joyfully, throwing herself at the old man. He wrapped his arms around her, patting her back as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"There there. Don't cry," he asked, though sounding suspiciously close to tears himself. They stood like that for a while, until Odie felt like she had her emotions under enough control to pull away. When she did, she laughed. The Doctor scowled through the very thin layer of mist over his dark eyes, as he smacked his cane into her knee.

"Ow!" she complained, giggling in the meantime. It made her annoyance very happy, kind of going against the very purpose of it.

Ian and Barbara were gone – where to Odie couldn't quite gather, but she didn't care. To be honest, she wanted to take this talk with the Doctor alone anyways. He seemed to be of the same mind, as he pointed down one of the hallways leading from the current room they were in, and Odie willingly followed him as he began walking. His body had aged little more than the last time she had seen him, and she noted that he didn't actually use the cane to support him.

A fashion statement? Odie snickered at the thought.

They had walked for a short time before Odie couldn't stand the silence anymore, and she looked at him.

"Theta-"

"Odie, I am sorry."

His apology came out so hurriedly, Odie wondered if he had just been too nervous to put it out. She smiled, walking a bit closer to him.

"I am too. You were angry with me for having told others about you, right?"

The Doctor blinked.

"How did you-" Odie winked at him.

"No matter how temperamental you are, Theta, you aren't unfair. I knew there was no way you could get _that_ angry about the fact I couldn't go with you."

The old man smiled, relieved, as he put an arm around his young friend.

"Indeed, and I am sorry I just left without trying to sort it out with you first. But you must understand, I thought your species could not be trusted, and so I needed to cool down."

Odie smiled.

"If you ask me, it looks like you needed other humans to change your mind," she said, poking his side and he laughed.

"Maybe so. But I am here now, and I am sorry."

Odie nodded, scratching the back of her head.

"We both are. So I assume we're friends again?"

The Doctor widened his eyes at her.

"My dear girl, we never stopped being friends! We - pardon me, _I _– was just a bit stubborn."

Odie giggled as he changed his sentence midway.

"But tell me, have you experienced anything while I was away? I am eager to hear what has come to pass with you."

So she told him. She told him of Solonians and their Map, of the burned down settlement, of her day off with Jerry and Red and of how her Mum had cheered her up at her initial depression. The Doctor – as he asked her to call him from now on, at least when others were nearby – told her off his new adventures. He had gone to distant planets with Susan, receiving the name "The Doctor" on one called Iwa, because he did not would not tell him his nickname as he had Odie, and he rather liked it – it was an honorary title among Gallifreyans. He had been to many periods of Earth's past, including Rome and Jerusalem.

After finding a jewel, capable of making all the wishes of the holder come true, he used it to come to Earth in the 20th century, where the chameleon circuit – the machine capable of disguising the TARDIS as something belonging in the area it arrived in – burned out, trapping the TARDIS in the form of a Police Box. While on Earth, he had almost been put in jail for shooting a werewolf with a Silver Bullet, but the jury acquitted him.

"But I am rather sad I didn't come sooner – I had wanted to be there when you first met aliens," he said, sulking, and Odie giggled.

"There there, you can be there the other times, right?"

The Doctor blinked.

"You mean you will travel with me?"

Odie looked at her feet as they continued walking. Technically, her mum still had her on that promise about staying home, but she bit her lip, nodding.

"I want to go – and if I can convince my mum that I won't be gone for very long, I am sure she'll let me. But you have to promise we'll return me within a few months of leaving!" she said with squinted eyes, and the Doctor chuckled as he made a cross over both of his beating hearts.

"Cross my hearts. I promise you I will return you soon enough for your mother not to become too worried."

Odie smiled widely, as did someone else.

"You'll come with us!?"

Odie turned around with a shock at the loud, bright voice, and when she turned, she saw Susan. Her mouth was agape at the sight of the young woman, but she reached out for her and the girl ran to her, hugging her.

"You'll really come with us, Odie?" she asked again, and Odie nodded.

"Yeah, I promise!"

Ian and Barbara turned the corner, where they had most likely been eavesdropping together with Susan, and they were both smiling. They had a tiny flicker of hope that the Doctor might be in a better mood with Odie near. They had both heard a bit of her from the Doctor, and the rest they had heard from Susan. And they could see that just by seeing his granddaughter and most treasured friend hugging, he already seemed a thousand times warmer.

"But I'll have to go to my Mum first," she said, sighing. The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"I'll go with you, dear." Odie stared at him.

"You really don't have to do that, you know?" she said. The Doctor shook his head, as Odie lifted one hand to put on his.

"Your mother might be more inclined to let you go on a trip with a man, who actually shows up to ask for permission. Besides, I could be able to help you convince her no harm will come to you," he pointed out with a smile. Odie took a deep breath, kind of fearing the impending conversation with her mum. But she had been keeping her promise for the past half year, and that should be enough to tell her that Odie could be trusted enough to let go for a month or two.

"But if she says no-"

The rest of the small group immediately stopped her, all saying that there was no way her mum couldn't be convinced. And as they all came with their separate ideas of how to approach the issue, shooting each other's ideas down at the same time, Odie couldn't help but smile as she her gaze swept over them.

She had been patient while waiting for The- the Doctor to come around, and there was no saying her mum hadn't changed her viewpoint either.

Good things came to those who waited, and Odie had waited. Now was that time to try and reap the rewards.

**So? So!? What do you guys think? :D**

**I hope I didn't make it tame D: I really wanted to show that they forgave each other, but I didn't think the First Doctor would be the type to admit his wrongs in elaborate terms, so I kept it as simple as possible. Please review and tell me how I did :D**

**Have fun until next time! *waves***


	10. Old and New Promises

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. This chapter came remarkably quickly to me! :D The incentive to keep posting came back to me with my agreement x) Hope you enjoy it!**

Susan, Barbara and Ian were waiting back in the TARDIS. They thought that there was a higher possibility of Mum Jackson giving in if it was only the Doctor and Odie who went to ask. The Doctor and Odie were walking down the streets of New Orleans, Odie staying close to the old man. The second they had stepped out from the TARDIS, Odie had felt that same pressuring feeling of not belonging. The Doctor found it very fascinating.

"I fail to see how it is so interesting, that I feel out of sorts here," Odie commented for the 18th time since the Doctor had first pointed it out to her. The old man smiled.

"It is _very_ fascinating, Odie! Can you not see? Due to the social structure of your society, your body reacts with discomfort at being a place your mind tells you, that you shouldn't be! It is interesting how thoroughly mind and body are tied together in the Human species," he commented, his dark eyes glittering at the discovery. Odie felt like kicking his backside; he deserved it since his only reaction to her discomfort was becoming overjoyed.

But he was still an old man... Her Mum had taught her to respect those older than you, and The Doctor was _most certainly_ older than her.

"How old are you now, Doctor?" she asked, determined to make his new title feel correct when talking to him. He would always be 'Theta' in her mind, but that was no reason not to let him become 'Doctor' as well. The man looked at her, blinking.

"Hm, how old is it again?" he murmured, and Odie giggled. The Doctor's wrinkled brow furrowed, creating even more wrinkles, and he looked at her with an indignant look in his eyes.

"I fail to see what's so funny, Odie," he pointed out, and Odie smiled.

"I guess a centuries-old man forgets to keep track, eh?" she asked, and Odie could _swear_ the Doctor almost pouted. Odie would find it hilarious if he actually did so at one point. Her friend had always seemed far too serious for such a gesture, but she had heard that old people eventually became childlike again. The Doctor childlike? She wanted to see that.

"You're grinning, Odie."

Odie's thoughts returned to the city of New Orleans at this comment, and she blinked as innocently as possible at her friend.

"No I didn't." The Doctor was unconvinced.

"What were you thinking about in that crazy mind of yours, hm?" he asked with a penetrating stare in his eyes.

"Nothing I tell you. Oh, come on, Doctor, we mustn't linger!" she quickly changed subject, as she began pushing the old man towards the trams. And while he complained, insisting that she share what rude thought she had processed, they got into one of the trams; Odie paying for both their tickets. It was a fairly long ride to the settlement, in which Odie would continuously attempt to distract the Doctor from his enquiries.

Some of her attempts actually succeeded quite well, like when she asked how the Trams worked mechanically. The Doctor was eager to show his brilliance as he began explaining everything in meticulous detail; luckily Odie was actually fairly interesting, so she listened eagerly, coming with questions. But the Doctor apparently never forgot anything, besides his own age, and as such, he began pestering her again whenever he saw a chance to do so. He was acting quite child-like, Odie commented to herself.

But when the tram came to a halt, so did the Doctor's persistence, and he exited the Tram, holding a hand out for Odie to take when she got out as well. It was a strange sight for all at that moment. A respectable, old, white male behaving as a gentleman towards a young former slave.

Odie cared not. As her and her friend approached the settlement, her mind was on a different problem entirely. The problem presented by her family and their impending denial of her wish to go with the Doctor. They came to a halt at the top of the hill, and she took a deep breath.

"What'll we do if they say no?" she murmured, and the Doctor looked at her.

"Go anyway." Odie widened her eyes, staring incredulously at the Doctor. He shrugged.

"That's what I did when I left Gallifrey," he pointed out, and Odie sighed.

"How would you react if Susan left the TARDIS without telling you, and you didn't notice until you couldn't find her anywhere?" she asked patiently, and a frown instantly settled on the Doctor's face. And just as he was about to point out that his dear Susan would never do such a thing, it dawned on him. His face relaxed in realization and he looked at Odie. She nodded with a small smile.

"Exactly. Now, let's just hope we can convince Mum to let me go."

"Mum, I'm home," she called nervously, as she and the Doctor entered the cottage. A surprised sound came from the pantry.

"Odie? Thought you wouldn't be 'ome until evenin' servi-"

Her mum entered the room, wiping her hands in her apron, until she noticed the man next to her daughter. Her dark eyes widened, her lips splitting apart in a surprised look. Odie bit her own lip, scratching her headful of curly black hair.

"Mum, this is Theta. Theta, this is my Mum, Cherrie Jackson."

It was nerve-wrecking, nothing less. Odie and the Doctor sat in the couch, as her mum sat in the armchair, a stern look on her face. The Doctor explained, in a limited edition, why he had aged so quickly compared to last time Mum Jackson had seen him, and that he wanted her permission to have Odie accompany him on a trip he was making.

"Odie, you know you made me a promise." Mum Jackson's eyes were stern as she looked at her daughter, and she slowly nodded.

"I remember. I promised to always put family first. And I've kept that promise; last time the Doctor asked me to join him, I refused, saying I wanted to put you at ease first. But I none the less also gave him a promise; that I would travel with him, allowing him to show me the world from his eyes."

The two women looked eachother in the eyes, and Mum Jackson grinded her yellowing teeth together. She then turned her merciless eyes to the Doctor, who was looking at her with a thoughtful stare.

"Will it be dangerous for her?" The Doctor nodded.

"Exploration is always dangerous – but I will be there with her, and so will my companions."

Mum Jackson sighed, as she put her hands together in a thoughtful gesture. Odie grabbed the Doctor's one hand in hers, and he absentmindedly patted hers, calming her down.

"Mum, please. I won't be gone for very long – the Doctor made me that promise. And you always say that promises should be kept. I've kept my promise to you, and now I want to keep my promise to the Doctor. And he, in turn, will keep his promise to me."

Cherrie Jackson was in a bad position. On one hand, she didn't trust her daughter to be safe in the company of the strange man who had entered with her. She didn't trust the man either – his weird aging was just one of many reasons for him to be too strange. But she also wanted her daughter to do the right thing, just as she had taught her, and that involved always keeping her promises. The old woman sighed, looking at the Doctor.

"Odie may go with you, Doctor – on _one_ condition."

Odie gripped the Doctor's hand tighter, wetting her lips with her tongue. She could almost smell the freedom; she wanted to go so badly. Mum Jackson looked at her daughter one last time, seeing the sudden energy in the dark eyes so like her own. She sighed, knowing that she could never deny Odie what she wanted when she looked like that. She looked back to the Doctor, nodding.

"You must make me a promise; promise me to protect my daughter and get her home to me in one piece."

The Doctor smiled, nodding in agreement.

"You have my word, Mrs. Jackson, that no harm will befall your daughter."

The woman sighed.

"Then she may go with you."

It was hard to believe. Odie had to blink a few times before her mother's words clearly came through. And then she jumped high into the air, throwing her arms around the old woman's neck in a hug.

"Thank you, Mum! Thank you, thank you!"

The old woman blinked away her tears, as she patted her daughter on the back. She looked at the Doctor, throwing him a leer that clearly stated he would be dead if Odie didn't come back. And he nodded. He had every intention of keeping his promise.

"Oh, I have to pack! And I have to tell Mr. Owens, and Red, and Jerry!"

Odie practically flew into her room as she rambled on all the things she needed to remember to do before they left. This left the two adults in the room alone, and Mum Jackson sighed, resting her face in her palms.

"You must understand, Doctor; Odie and her brother is all I have left." The Doctor rose from his seat, walking closer to the woman and patting her back.

"I understand perfectly, Mrs. Jackson. I care deeply for your daughter; she is one of few good friends I have left in this world. I would rather die than let her come to any harm," he promised, and this made the old woman lock her gaze with his. She searched for any lies in the dark eyes of the man who was about to take her daughter away from her watchful eyes, but she found none. She sighed, nodding.

"I will trust your word, Doctor. Odie is in your hands now," she said sadly.

Odie came back out into the room soon thereafter, a huge backpack on her back. She grinned at the Doctor.

"I don't think I can fit any more of my room into this bag, so let's get out before I try anyways." The Doctor laughed at this comment, and he nodded. He gave his hand to Mum Jackson.

"Goodbye Mrs. Jackson. I shall keep your daughter safe for you," he said, as he walked out the cottage, leaving the two women to say their own goodbyes. Odie slowly walked to her mum, two pairs of dark eyes conveying a thousand feelings they were both too proud to say out loud.

"Goodbye Mum." Odie's voice cracked with emotion halfway into the sentence, and the sound made her tears spill over. Her mum smiled through her own tears, nodding.

"I will see you soon, my dear. Be careful for your old ma," she asked, and Odie nodded as she hugged the older woman. She inhaled her scent, one she would probably recall on nights where she became too homesick to think of anything but her family.

"I will."

She joined the Doctor outside her cottage soon thereafter, doubting she could say goodbye to the cottage without breaking down in sobs. The Doctor put one arm around her shoulders, urging her along.

"Are you sure you're okay, dear?" he asked, petting her hair in a fatherly motion. Odie nodded, with a small smile.

"I'll be fine," she promised.

Every person they walked by wished Odie a good journey and swift return, and Odie didn't think she could handle it for much longer. Every face, every smile, they all made her want to move on as quickly as possible, but also never leave.

She wanted so badly to go, to see all that she had never seen before, but she also couldn't stand the thought of being away from all those wonderful people she had grown up with.

The worst blow was waiting for her on top of the hill. As soon as they got up there, Odie's eyes widened. This was too cruel.

Red and Jerry were standing in front of her, Red smiling and Jerry looking mighty disgruntled. Her tears began falling down her face in renewed strength, but she still smiled through them.

"I'm leaving, guys."

"We heard," Red said with a smile, walking to her. "Everyone's talking about it."

Jerry eyes the old man at Odie's side with annoyance, mostly because he was the one taking Odie away. But he also knew that he would never go against it, as their mother had already granted her acceptance to Odie's wish of going with him.

"We'll see you soon, baby sister," Jerry promised, choosing instead to rub Odie's hair. Odie could only nod, not trusting her voice to do the work for her. Red smiled, taking off one of her colorful bracelets.

"Here you go."

She clasped it around Odie's wrist instead, grinning.

"Now you'll always have a lil' piece of home with ya!"

Speechless, Odie embraced her best friends, and the three held each other as close as they possibly could; all conveying the same thing. That they would count the days 'till they saw each other again.

"Look after the buffoon for me, will you?" Odie asked Red when the three broke apart again, and Red grinned, nodding.

"It's a promise."

Odie nodded once more and walked together with the Doctor, who held out a hand for her. She looked over her shoulder one last time, seeing Red and Jerry wave after her. She wordlessly waved back, before turning her eyes forward. The Doctor squeezed her hand, looking at her with a worried look in his eyes.

When they went to talk to Mr. Owens, he surprised Odie by saying he had already expected the conversation. He gave Odie leave, and told her that her job would still be waiting for her when she came back. This earned him a large hug from Odie, before the pair left the bar.

The walk back to the TARDIS was shorter than Odie remembered – most likely due to the fact she was lost in thought. The Doctor knew better than to try and make her think of something else. She needed time to say goodbye to it all. He knew the feeling of saying goodbye to a home far too well – there were times when he still missed Gallifrey, and he knew it was healthy for Odie to remember what she left behind. This way, her joy at coming home again would be greater than the sadness at leaving it.

When they did arrive, the Doctor led Odie to a vacant room within the vast hallways of his ship. He chose one relatively close to the control room, in order to keep her from getting too lost within the TARDIS, and she smiled at him.

When they entered the room, she blinked. It was almost exactly like her room back home. The walls were wood, a large bed was situated beneath a window which showed the outside of the ship, and a dresser stood on the opposite side of the room. She slowly put her backpack down, smiling.

"How?" The Doctor grinned.

"The TARDIS is an amazing machine. I will explain the details to you some other time. You had better take a rest before we land, you might need it."

And as her friend left her to settle in her new room, Odie sat on her bed.

She was there. In the TARDIS. About to go on an adventure with the Doctor, his granddaughter and their friends. And she was determined to enjoy every minute of it, so she had some amazing stories to tell when she came home again.

**EXCITEMENT! The Doctor and Odie's wonderful adventures will begin in the next chapter! Look forward to it! I know I am!**


	11. Getting to Know You

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. This is a small and nice interlude, intended for Odie to get to know Susan and the Doctor a bit better :) Read on! :D**

When her eyes opened, she briefly forgot where she was. She was about ready to walk out of that door, say 'good morning' to her mum and get ready for breakfast. But then she remembered. She sat up. She looked around her room, larger than the one at home, yet still familiar enough for it to feel like home. She wasn't in New Orleans. She was in the TARDIS. She looked out the window beside her, widening her eyes.

"WOW!"

Instead of the lane from before, she now saw a vast darkness, with billions of shining lights. They were up in the sky! She looked all around her, fascinated as she saw them leave a large sphere with blue and green patterns, and shoot away from the brightest light she had ever seen. A huge sphere of light, a bit further away than the blue and green sphere.

"It looks amazing," she commented.

"Miss Odie?"

She looked over her shoulder, seeing Susan in the door. She smiled, waving the girl over.

"Come on Susan, come look out the window with me! I have so many questions," she asked. Susan didn't seem sure of herself as she slowly approached the newest addition to their group, but as she climbed up upon the bed, slowly scooting closer to Odie and the window, she found herself at ease at Odie's kind and eager face.

"What do you mean; you have questions?" she asked, blinking, and Odie eagerly began pointing out all the different things she could see outside the window, beginning with the green and blue sphere.

"What is that?" "Well, that's Earth, the place you come from."

Odie blinked.

"That's Earth?" she marveled, staring at this strange thing that was so familiar, yet so alien at the same time.

"What about the large light behind it?"

"That's the Sun."

Odie blinked.

"But it's so large!" Susan laughed at this statement.

"You see it as small because of the distance between the Earth and the Sun. In reality, it is that large."

Odie couldn't imagine she would see the world in the same way once she came home again. It was staggering how small the Earth was, compared to the Sun, and as the TARDIS came further and further away, and Susan explained more about the other planets they passed, Odie realized just how insignificant she was.

Among these billions of stars and millions of planets, she was one life, on one planet circulating one sun. And somewhere out there, there was many other lives as hers on different planets circulating different suns. It was enough to give Odie one hell of a headache.

"Are you okay, Miss Odie?" Susan asked with a concerned look on her face, and Odie smiled, patting the younger girl's shoulder.

"Yeah, just having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I'll be fine, don't worry," she replied, seating herself with her back against the wall. She closed her eyes in order to gain control of her thoughts again, but Susan seemed unable to hold her curiosity in, and she soon poked Odie's knee.

She barely opened one of her eyes, smiling at the girl.

"What is it?"

Susan cringed, writhing in her own thoughts. She was, apparently, wondering what to say. What Odie didn't know was that Susan had as many questions for Odie as Odie had for her, though of another nature of course.

"I... I have questions too," she muttered timidly, and Odie giggled at her face. Susan blushed nervously, and Odie quickly sat up straight, turning towards Susan. She clapped her hands loudly together, making the girl jump slightly. Odie had a gleam in her eyes, one that made Susan somewhat unsettled.

"I have a brilliant idea. Let's play Q&A!"

Susan blinked.

"Q&A?"

Odie nodded.

"I ask a question, then you ask a question and so forth," she explained, and Susan nodded slowly. That sounded like a fair exchange. Odie grinned, mimicking Susan's nod.

"All right, then! You start," she offered, and Susan bit her lip, picking a question to start them off.

"How did you meet my grandfather?" she asked.

"He was on his first assignment with a TARDIS on the Academy, and he chose to remain on Earth after his assignment had been completed. He came to the bar I worked on, and we talked. That good enough?"

Susan slowly nodded, preparing herself mentally for questions. She was unsure what she could tell Odie that her grandfather hadn't already told her. That was, of course, because Susan thought Odie would ask her questions about Gallifrey.

"What adventures have you been on since you began travelling?"

Susan blinked.

"_All of them?_" she screeched. Odie laughed at the implication that they had been on a lot. She raised her hands in defeat.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. You tell me one each time it's my turn, okay?" she suggested with a wink. This was better for Susan.

Susan decided to go from newest to oldest. So she began with their latest adventure in the French Revolution. Odie didn't know whether to laugh or cry at all the problems the Doctor got himself and his friends in. She asked Susan how often they were in danger of being executed by one or the other, and she had to admit it was a bit too often for her liking.

Susan asked Odie questions about how it was to grow up on Earth, how her family functioned, how she had been taught to read and write by her father, how she explored the wild Bayou for excitement and how her life had been influenced by the politics of white men. She absorbed it all like a sponge, and while Odie was busy enough trying to comprehend the amazing things Susan had been through during her adventures in the TARDIS, so did Susan try to process what Odie told her. How it would be like to live in one place, surrounded by people you loved like a family, to grow up in streets that you ran down all your life.

"You really want a place to call home, don't you?"

Susan was dragged out of her fantasies by Odie, who smiled gently at her. Susan slowly nodded, looking down at her hands.

"I love my grandfather, and I would worry for him if I wasn't with him, but... Sometimes I miss just staying in one place," she admitted, and Odie smiled, scooting closer to the girl and putting an arm around her. She gave her a hug as such, and Susan rested her cheek on Odie's shoulder.

"It is nice to have a place called home, Susan. But you don't really appreciate it until you've tried being without it." Odie knew that now. And as she was certain Susan had learned a lot from her travels, so was she sure that the Doctor would let Susan settle down somewhere. He was a reasonable man – he knew that Susan deserved a nice life, not a nomad one.

"Come on, Susan. Show me around the TARDIS?" Odie beckoned, and Susan slowly nodded, willing the suddenly solemn mood off of her. She grabbed Odie's hand and exited the room. It was a bit weird, seeing her own room with wooden walls, and then exiting into a hallway that was sterile and white, just as she imagined hospitals.

After walking for five minutes, Odie was sure she couldn't find her way back to her room. All of the hallways in the TARDIS looked the same, and they had turned so many corners, it was a wonder Susan had any idea where they were headed.

"Where are we going, Susan?" Odie asked with a confused look around, and Susan smiled.

"I want to show you my room," she admitted, and Odie grinned. This was going to be fun!

After a few more turns and twists, they arrived at an inconspicuous door, labeled "Susan". They both entered and Odie's jaw came down. It was a very nice room.

The walls were held in a very pale and bright orange, although you could barely see it for all the paintings and posters on the walls. Some were of bands Odie had never heard, others were paintings of beautiful landscapes, some somewhat familiar to her and others so very foreign. In the middle of the room was a large bed, seemingly undisturbed at all, and a desk was put in the corner, whereupon Susan had begun writing something.

"It's amazing. What does this painting portray?" she asked, running to one of the larger paintings. It was a painting – well, at least she thought it was a painting, though it could also be a 'photograph'. It was the latest trend, but it had never been in color before. And this one was. The colors were astounding. The walls of the mansion was a deep green, and the grass around it was deep red, the leaves on the trees silver. The sky was red as well, and she could see sunlight playing in the grass. Susan smiled.

"Our home."

Odie blinked.

"This is from Gallifrey?"

"Yes. That is the Lungbarrow mansion, my grandfather's childhood home."

Odie smiled.

"It's beautiful. I assume it is not a painting then?"

Susa laughed.

"No, it is an accurate portrait created by computer," she admitted. Odie blinked when returning her gaze to Susan, as she mouthed the foreign word.

"Com-pu-tar? What is that?"

Susan blinked. Oh dear...

The two girls chatted eagerly as they walked the hallways of the TARDIS, Susan still trying to explain what a computer was to Odie. As they exited one of many hallways, Odie was confused to realize they were in the same room as last night. It was circular and white and rather spacious. A large machine stood in the center of the room, the Doctor bend over it and pushing diverse buttons. She smiled, hushing Susan.

She attempted to sneak quietly behind the Doctor, in order to scare him, but as soon as she had tiptoed, to seem larger than she was, and was ready to yell at him, he destroyed her plan.

"Hello Odie, dear. Slept well?"

She exhaled the large breath she had just taken, and scowled.

"Damn it, Doctor! Here I was all ready to surprise you," she complained. The Doctor chuckled lightly, turning around to pet her on her back.

"There there, I'll pretend to be surprised next time," he promised, looking to his granddaughter who was hiding a smirk. He raised his eyebrows at her, causing her to clear her throat and standing straight.

"Hello Grandfather," she greeted, and the Doctor nodded, a look in his eyes that clearly showed he was fully aware of what she had been doing prior to her addressing him.

"Hello Susan. Do you know where Barbara and Chesterton is at?" he asked, and Susan blinked.

"No, grandfather, I have been with Odie for the last two hours," she announced, and Odie blinked. Had it already been that long?

"Time flies when you're having fun," she commented with a smile, and Susan nodded eagerly, giggling. The Doctor was scowling, though not because of the girls' amusement.

"Where are those two? We're about to land," he commented, returning to the console. And while Odie leaned against the machine, watching what the Doctor was doing with the countless buttons and levers, Susan left them to go and find the two British humans who travelled with them.

"How do you like her?" The Doctor asked, once Susan was out of sight. Odie smiled.

"I like her very much. She is a cute kid. Who would've known Theta could get a decent grandchild?" she teased. The Doctor smiled.

"I have two more, besides her." Odie raised her eyebrows.

"They didn't want to come travelling with you?" she asked, and the Doctor smiled.

"They aren't on Gallifrey," he admitted. Odie smiled, looking up at the loft of the room.

"What are their names?" she asked curiously, and the Doctor sighed, stopping his fingers' dance across the control panel.

"John and Gillian," he said slowly. Odie looked at him through the corner of her eyes.

"That's some rather normal names for Time Lords, isn't it?" she asked. The Doctor nodded.

"They've grown up on Earth. I have never met them in person, but I suspect I shall at some point," she speculated. Odie looked back up at the loft, thinking to herself. The Doctor seemed to have a complicated family situation, so she wouldn't pry.

When the TARDIS suddenly made the strangest of noises, she jumped of the spot, seeking protection from behind the Doctor. He snickered at her reaction.

"My dear girl, there is nothing to be alarmed of! We are materializing," he shared. Odie blinked.

"Materializing?"

**So yeah xD I couldn't really find any sources indicating exactly what John and Gillian was to the First Doctor, besides two accounts stating they were either his grandchildren or a dream he had dreamt xD I went with the first. In order to fit it in, I think I will make it so that John and Gillian are _not_ Time Lords, but more like two orphans the Doctor found on one of his trips to Earth, and left in the care of some people he could trust. He sees himself as their grandfather, and that is enough XD No blood-relation. I will have to think on whether they will meet up with Odie at some point, though o.o hmmm...**

**Well! I hope you enjoyed the chapter x) Please wait patiently 'till the next one!**


	12. An Extraterrestrial Adventure - Part 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. So! This is the first part of Odie's first adventure in Time and Space! :D I hope you will enjoy the chapter!**

Ian, Barbara and Susan soon joined the Doctor and Odie in the control room, the latter too busy to stare at the image on the scanner than to greet the others. She saw a lush landscape, large trees, strange birds and clear streams of water. But the sky was not her own. It was not blue. It was instead a pale red, and she was astounded at the beauty of it all.

"Where are we?" she whispered, and the Doctor took a brief glance around the Control Panel that was still whirring and beeping.

"The planet Mars. It is your Earth's neighbor, if you didn't know. We should be a fair bit of time before your own time, before Mars became a barren wasteland," he explained. Odie blinked, turning around.

"Susan, isn't Mars that red planet you pointed out?" she asked, and Susan nodded.

"How long before our time are we, Doctor?" Barbara asked with a smile, and the old man hummed in thoughtfulness, as his eyes darted from one display to the other on the control panel.

"I should think 10 millennia BC, Barbara," he answered, making the two other humans stare at him.

"10 _millennia_ BC, Doctor!?" the man repeated, and the Doctor turned to him, his eyes insistent.

"Yes, Chesterton, 10 millennia, that's what I said. Are you going deaf on me?" he asked with an impatient look on his face, as he pushed a button on the control panel.

"Well, dear Odie, go out there! See it for yourself," he said with a smile, offering his arm to his young friend. Odie slowly linked her arm with the Doctor's, as the two left the TARDIS, the three others following them. Barbara and Ian could live without visiting other planets. Although they had grown rather fond of the Doctor, peculiar though he might be, they really just wanted to get home. Not to say they didn't quite enjoy the adventures.

Odie took a deep breath, surprised at the stale air outside. Though the area was lush with plants and looked all in all harmonic, the air was surprisingly dry, and not at all as humid as she had expected. But the plants were real enough, and Odie quickly overcame her initial nervousness, leading her to quickly leave the Doctor's side and wander further away from the blue Police Box.

"Odie!" Susan called, worried. The Doctor chuckled.

"I knew she would be like that. Susan, can you be a good girl and keep an eye on her? I think I want to take a few samples," he asked, and Susan quickly followed the newest addition to the group. Barbara decided to go with the two girls, as Ian stayed behind with the Doctor, insistent on discussing the strange air and possible lack of a proper atmosphere on this early version of Mars.

Odie stopped when she reached a stream of water. She looked down into the water, marveling at the way the deep red sand colored the water in a rusty color, when she dipped her hands in the water and withdrew them from the stream again, the water was as clear as could be.

She slowly lifted the water to her lips, carefully dipping her lips in it. It was warm, but then again, so was the entire forest. She didn't know exactly how hot it was, but it was a fair temperature to be bathing. If only there was cool water somewhere, but the water she held in her hands had been warmed by the sun. She carefully drank a bit of it – the only thing wrong with it was the temperature. It was clean enough otherwise.

"It is strange that this planet will be known as 'the Red Planet'. It looks very green to me," Barbara commented, and Susan nodded.

"At some point in the future, all the plant life will wither and the water will dry out. All that will cover Mars at that time will be red dust," she explained. Odie looked around herself, blinking confused.

"What part of this seems about to wither?" she asked, standing up. Susan shrugged.

"I just now it happens," she pointed out, and Odie smiled, nodding. It wasn't like she doubted Susan. She'd probably believe her if she said the planet was made of cheese. Odie sighed, taking off her shoes with a wide grin.

"Come on, you two!" she beckoned, as she lowered her bare feet into the water. It was pleasantly warm around her ankles, and she giggled as she kicked some of the water up on the two on dry land. Susan covered herself with her arms while shrieking, before doing the same as Odie. Barbara laughed as the two girls indulged in a rather heated water fight.

None of the three women sensed someone observing them, or heard the heavy steps that approached them from behind the bushels.

* * *

"And I am telling you, it's impossible! With this much vegetation, Mars _has_ to have a proper atmosphere for it to grow!"

"Chesterton, you do not agree with the truth, so therefore you dismiss it by calling it impossible. Did you not also say that the TARDIS was impossible, and yet you have been travelling in it for a while now, haven't you? Well?"

A loud scream got the attention of the quarreling men. They both immediately recognized it.

"Susan!"

* * *

Odie moved in front of Susan when they realized someone was watching, as Barbara quickly got down to them both, putting her arms around them both. Two aliens had been watching them. They were green-skinned, covered with scales and had large, gaping black eyes. Other than that, they seemed human in nature. They were both stepping on the spot, and Odie assumed they were looking at them.

"I think you scared them, Susan," she whispered, as she slowly began stepping forward. Barbara attempted to grab her arm, hold her back, but Odie just removed the hand again.

"We're sorry for scaring you," she attempted, and as she progressed, so did the aliens retract. For their rather large size and burly-looking bodies, they seemed timid.

"Susan, what's wrong?" Ian's loud voice boomed, and this made the two aliens jump again. Odie turned around, glaring at Ian.

"You're scaring them, Ian!" she scolded, but with a quiet voice. The Doctor blinked at the sight of the Aliens and he proceeded towards Odie with too much spring in her step. The Aliens seemed nervous again. Odie sighed.

"Doctor, stop."

The Doctor froze.

"Have these aliens ever seen men before?" she asked, and the Doctor shrugged.

"Most likely not. The closest known source of organic life is Earth, and that won't come to pass for a while," he admitted. Odie smiled cautiously, reaching out her hands.

"My name is Odie. It is okay, we won't hurt you," she promised. One of the green aliens slowly took a few steps towards them, causing his friend to grab him.

"Azeel, no." Odie was barely aware they said anything, they hissed when speaking. She nodded slowly.

"It's okay, as I said; we won't hurt you. Is your name Azeel?" she asked, looking at the alien who had stepped closer to her.

"I am Azeel, son of Chieftain Ozeer. Who are you?" he hissed back, and Odie nodded.

"My name is Odie, and this is the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. We are travelers, you understand?" she asked. The alien slowly nodded, approaching her.

"You are no Martian," he said, slowly tapping her forehead with a scaly green finger. She smiled, shaking her head.

"Travelers, as I said."

Azeel walked back to his friend, and they spoke in hushed tones, causing their conversation to be little more than hisses to the group. Odie turned around, walking back to the others. Susan blinked.

"You're not afraid?" she asked.

"If I had anything to be afraid of, they would've attacked me already," Odie reasoned. Granted, their appearance was beastly, but after working night-hours in New Orleans, nothing could scare her anymore.

"I assume they were more afraid of your scream, Susan," she said with a smile. The Doctor chuckled, patting Odie's back.

"That's my girl!" Odie smiled, proud at the praise.

"You're taking your first aliens well, Odie," Ian remarked and Odie shook her head.

"These aren't my first aliens," she admitted. Barbara and Ian blinked.

"An alien race called Solonians came to Earth through what they called a Time Rift a few weeks ago. It caused quite a stir," she explained.

"Aliens in New Orleans 1949?" he asked, unconvinced. Odie laughed.

"Sounds weird, right?"

"Don't look, but our friends are coming back," Ian whispered, and Odie turned around. She saw Azeel waving her over again. Or, she assumed it was him, based on the fact that his friend seemed more than a little wary of them.

She slowly walked closer to him as well.

"You will come to the village with us." He said this in a hopeful tone, pointing at Odie. She looked back to the others, who shrugged. At least he hadn't commanded them, not really. This was already far better than most aliens the Doctor had taken them to meet in the past.

Odie turned her head again, nodding.

"Okay, we will come."

The humans all followed Azeel in the general direction he was taking off in, with the other Martian at the back. And whereas Azeel engaged Odie and Susan, who walked in the front, in light conversation, the other Martian's gaze burned Ian's neck.

"Doctor, I don't think the fellow back there shares Azeel's mild temper," he whispered, and the Doctor slowly nodded.

"I do believe you are right, Chesterton. But this Azeel-fellow seems to trust Odie, and he is son of the Chieftain. Let us just hope that that will prove in our favor," he said with a thoughtful look in his dark eyes.

After a fair amount of time, they reached the edge of the forest. In front of them was a red-sanded plain with a bunch of scattered white buildings. Odie blinked.

"That's the village, Azeel?" she asked, looking up at the Martian. He nodded, slowly pointing to the white buildings.

"We don't like the heat – it makes us slow. Our homes are connected with tunnels beneath the sand, kept at cold temperatures."

The Doctor made a noise to indicate his understanding.

"But then, what were you and your friend doing out in the middle of the day? It is fairly warm out here," he pointed out. Azeel looked back, nodding.

"We usually don't go out in the day, but there was a fault with our water pipes, so Usloo and I were sent out to check on it."

Usloo, as the other Martian was called, hissed.

"I feel sick, Azeel. Can we go in?"

Azeel nodded, leading the way across the plain. The hike wasn't that bad for the humans; Barbara even commented that they might be able to get a tan while they were there, but Odie could see Azeel and Usloo had trouble. They were wheezing and stumbled a few times in the sand.

When they finally reached the white buildings, Azeel and Usloo was in a hurry to get inside. The inside of the buildings was quite unlike anything Odie had ever seen before. The white building they had entered had three separate tunnels running from its circular structure. All three of them had been given a number, which she assumed was similar to road names on Earth. There were holes in the attic where an almost constant cold air was funneled through, and she could feel the temperature difference between outside and inside was at least twenty degrees. She had to rub her arms to keep the warmth, and her feet were uncomfortably cold. She had forgotten her shoes back near the creek, as had Susan.

"Azeel, I don't assume you have something we could wear? Our species are uncomfortable in the cold," Odie admitted, and the Martian nodded, with more energy than before.

"When we reach my father's room, I can make sure you get some cloth to warm yourselves with," he promised. Usloo took a step away from them, bowing slightly to Azeel.

"I will go back to Hyrz then," he greeted, leaving the group.

"Who is Hyrz?" Ian asked, and Azeel looked back at the man.

"Hyrz is Usloo's teacher. Usloo is an apprentice metalworker," he explained, as he led the five humans down a separate tunnel. And as they disappeared out of sight, Usloo hissed.

"Those strangers could hinder the plans. I had better tell Greizt."

And thus he hurried down the white hallway, his hissing a constant sound echoing bouncing back from the walls.

* * *

**There! :D What did you guys think?**

**I am always eager to hear praises and constructive criticism! I personally had a hell of a time trying to fit the info together, since there isn't much information regarding the Ice Warrior's past in the TV, so I had to use the wiki a lot =_= Well, hope you liked it!**

**Look forward to the next installment! ^^**


	13. An Extraterrestrial Adventure - Part 2

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.

This is the second part of Odie's first adventure. Hope you'll like it! Read on! :D

On their way through the compound, they passed a fair amount of Martians. What Odie found most peculiar was the lack of clothing. Apparently, with the whole scaly part of their exterior, the Martians didn't need to cover up their bodies in front of each other.

"I wonder if they are a monogender species?" the Doctor wondered out loud, and Odie looked at him, confused.

"What does 'monogender' mean, Doctor?" It was Ian who answered

"It means that they are all either females or males, and do not have the other sex in their race," he explained. His explanation made Azeel laugh in his hissing fashion.

"Oh no, we do have female. You have seen a few of them already," he said with a laugh. Susan blinked.

"We have? I didn't realize. You all look so alike," she wondered and Azeel nodded.

"I suppose we do to you strangers. You all look alike to me as well, but I assume the three with brighter voices are your females. Our females are the same," he commented. Odie smiled, nodding.

"That's a vague thing to base it on, but yes, I suppose so."

After all, they had not spoken with any Martians besides Usloo and Azeel.

"Our females are also more slender in body, and have crests down their backs," he explained. And after Azeel had pointed it out, Susan and Odie began to be able to distinguish the males from the females. What Azeel had called crests, were spiny dorsal crests following the spine of the females, similar to those found on lizards on Earth.

After a fair bit of walking, the hallway they were walking in joined six or seven others in a large, round room. The roof was made of a dense type of glass, letting sunlight pour down into the room, opposite to the artificial lighting that had been present throughout the rest of the city. The floor was covered in a thick carpet, woven by plant material, and there were Martians all around them, standing in groups and talking.

As soon as they saw the strangers, however, it broke off, and they stared. Most of them remembered to nod respectfully to Azeel as he began moving again. The humans quickly moved, following him. Although Azeel had been kind to them, they did not quite trust the Martians as a race yet. Azeel led them through a wide archway at the northernmost part of the room, where four Martians were seated at a white table. They all looked up when Azeel approached, and then hissed in surprise at the sight of the humans.

"What is this, Azeel?" one of them hissed, standing up. Azeel bowed.

"Travelers, Chieftain. Usloo and I found them wandering in the woods," he explained. The three others stood up as well, stepping slightly on the spot. Ian wondered if they were afraid.

"Who is your Chieftain? Who will speak for your group?" Azeel asked, and everyone looked to the Doctor. He was smiling mischievously, but stopped when he saw everyone gazes. He made a surprised gesture to himself, and scowled when the others nodded.

"I suppose I am," he insisted, and stepping forwards. He performed a small bow for the Chieftain.

"I am the Doctor, Chieftain. I will speak for us," she slowly said, as Azeel left Odie's side to stand behind his father. The older Martian slowly walked around the old man, hissing in, what Odie suspected, was deep thought.

"Where do you come from?"

"Oh, here and there. We have been travelling for a long time, Chieftain, and not all of us are from the same place," he explained.

"What is your purpose here?"

"Exploration. We are a curious bunch, and we were just looking around the forest when your boy found us."

"I do not trust them, Chieftain! What if they are saboteurs? They could be the ones to cause the fault to the water pipes!" one of the other Martians protested, standing up. Azeel hissed.

"They were nowhere near the water pump, and the fault was because an animal had been chewing on one of the transportation tubes," he said, making Odie smile. She sent a mental thanks to their new friend.

"How can you be so sure it was an animal, and not these strangers?" one of the other Martians asked, and Azeel nodded.

"It was puncture holes similar to the teeth of the Trogs in the forest, and the plants around the water pump had been clumsily trod down. These strangers are small of body, they would not have caused such disturbance," he explained, as the four Martians sat down again. The Chieftain hissed once more.

"Will you, Azeel, son of Ozeer, vouch for these travelers?" he asked, and Azeel nodded.

"I will."

The four Martians turned back to each other, engaging in hushed hisses so quick that Odie could decipher little of what was said. But after little more than thirty seconds, the Chieftain turned back, nodding.

"I bid you welcome, travelers. You are our guests, and you may have freedom as such. A guard must accompany you if you leave the village, but otherwise, you are free to do as you choose."

The humans all breathed out in relief, as the Doctor bowed.

"Thank you, Chieftain. We are honored by your trust," he greeted, before Azeel led them all out of the room.

The Doctor was most satisfied by the way things had turned out. Rarely did he have the opportunity of investigating an alien society on so friendly terms, and he intended to make as much use of the grace given by the Chieftain as possible.

Azeel made good on his promise to provide them with extra cloth, and when he came with the blankets, Odie and Susan were quick to wrap two around them as cocoons.

"How cold do you think it is down here, Doctor?" Odie asked, and the Doctor looked around in the room they had been given.

"I should think it is just below five degrees Celsius."

"Celsius?" Odie asked, blinking. The Doctor sighed.

"Oh yeah, I am sorry, Odie, I forgot your country uses a different scale. Five degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit, should be just about 48 degrees," he quickly calculated and Odie shivered.

"That's ridiculous. It's freezing down here," she complained, making the Doctor chuckle. He walked to her side, putting an arm around her.

"I must commend you, Odie," he said with a smile, making the young girl blink and look up at him.

"For what?"

"You handled yourself quite well with the Martians," he complimented, and Ian nodded.

"That's true. It's quite rare for us to be thought of as friends from the start, rather than enemies," he laughed. Barbara smiled, nodding as well.

"It is a good change," she agreed. Odie laughed at the others, and as they began explaining how they more often than good was came in conflict with Alien Governments, she could not help but laugh.

"You must be joking; charged for murder? _Ian_?" she asked with a giggle in her voice, and Ian joined in.

"You can laugh at it now, but it very serious back then! If they hadn't caught the real killer in the act, I wouldn't be here!" he reminded them. Susan laughed together with them, until a Martian entered the room. Odie blinked as she attempted to recognize this particular Martian, but it was so hard knowing one from the other.

"It is I, Azeel," the Martian helped them, and Odie laughed, standing up.

"Sorry Azeel, we are having a hard time recognizing you people from each other," she apologized, and Azeel shook his head.

"So do I have trouble distinguishing you. Your voices are what sets you apart the most," he said. Odie blinked.

"Not the hair or the skin?" she asked, trying to indicate how different the five actually were from each other. Azeel shook his head once more.

"You look like each other," he maintained. He turned his gaze towards the rest of the group.

"I thought you might like to see the market. Envoys from other tribes are here to trade their crafts," he explained, and the Doctor stood up, excitement in his aging features.

"A wonderful suggestion, young man! Shall we be off?" he encouraged.

"I think I'll stay here, Grandfather. I feel a bit tired," Susan said with a smile. Barbara looked at the younger girl, worried.

"Are you sure, Susan?"

A nod accompanied the smile on Susan's face.

"Its okay, Barbara, you go along with them. I will just sleep for a bit," she said, making the Doctor nod with a smile. He walked to her, patting her head.

"Sleep well then, dear. Wait here for us to return, hm?" he asked, and Susan nodded. She didn't feel for going out into that city without any of the others with her at any rate. And as Susan laid down on a mattress in one corner of the room, wrapping the blanket around her, the others left the room together with Azeel.

She didn't get to sleep for long. She was woken up by a noise, a _hissing_. She kept quiet, trying to maintain the illusion that she was sleeping.

"Are you sure this will work, Greizt?" one voice hissed. Susan struggled to remember it; she felt like she knew it.

"Of course it will. These strangers are the perfect scapegoats. Once our allies in the woods sabotage the water pump again, you will walk in here and discover the rilse in the stranger's quarters. That should be enough evidence for the Chieftain to condemn the strangers for sabotage. They will be locked away, and then we attack and take control of his village for ourselves," another Martian explained.

Susan felt like her entire body had frozen. She knew it had been too much to hope for to have a perfectly peaceful trip to an alien world. But what on earth was a rilse? What were they leaving in here?

"It is a good plan, Greizt."

"Of course it is, Usloo. There is no room for failure if our takeover shall succeed," Greizt retorted, as they left. Susan bit her lower lip. _Usloo_. That slimy, nasty- Oh no, she shouldn't become angry. She slowly sat up, when she was certain the Martians had left, and turned around. It wasn't difficult to see what the Martians had left in there. It was a large tool, slightly reminiscent of a crowbar, but with two large spikes at the end. She remembered what Azeel had said about an animal biting in one of the water tubes at the pump. So this was what had done it?

"I need to tell someone," she muttered to herself, looking around. But who could she tell? Who would listen to her? She blinked.

"Azeel! Of course, _he_ would listen to me!" she reminded herself, as she stood up and ran out of the room. But what way was the markets? Susan looked around her, groaning. Why did the Martians not put signs up or something?

In the end, Susan decided to run in one direction, and she would just have to ask for directions when she found someone. Preferably not Usloo or this _Greizt_ person.

"This is immensely interesting, Azeel. You mean you have no currency, but rather exchange the items?" Ian asked, as he saw a Martian accept a basket from another. Azeel nodded, as the receiver gifted the other with a carved flask.

"Yes, that is true – we call it 'Mathom'. We remember the persons who gave us the gifts, and give them something in return when we have something of value."

Barbara smiled.

"What a wonderful sentiment," she applauded, and Azeel gave a slight nod, something the humans had come to see as his version of a smile.

"Thank you, Barbara. How does it work with your people?"

"We have something we call 'money'. It is a reward for when we work hard, and then we can use a certain amount of it to buy things from others," he explained. Azeel shook his head, what seemed to be a frown for him.

"It sounds flawed – do your people not challenge each other for control of this _money_?" he asked, and the Doctor nodded.

"Indeed they do, it is a rather flawed system," he commented, making Odie smile.

"It is under development. I like your system much better, but I think that, with our people, too many would be trying to slink away from giving gifts back," she admitted. Azeel nodded.

"There are some of our people who try to do so as well. We try to be lenient with them, but if they go against our rules we end up exiling them from the village," he admitted. Barbara looked up at him.

"You mean, you send them out in the wild?" she asked, scared. How could you do such a thing to someone?

"Most of them go to other villages further away. My people value personal honor above much else – the disgrace of being banished from the village in which you were birthed is often enough to change their way of life," he explained. Odie blinked, nodding.

"I think our equivalent would be throwing people in prison, Barbara," she said, and Barbara nodded slowly, turned her eyes back to the busy market. In some ways, the Martian's ways were better. After all, they were more than welcome to just settle in another village and continue their life. But being cut off from your family and friends?

"Do you do so often?" the Doctor asked curiously, and Azeel shook his head.

"Not often, no. In my lifetime there has only been two exiles. They were aggressive, insisting that we attack the other villages, try to unify all the villages under one chieftain," he explain, his hisses becoming louder with every word. He was agitated.

The Doctor was pleased with the Martians. They were a people dedicated wholly to peace, focusing on their crafts and arts. It was remarkable. But, of course, there could not be complete peace. There would always be warmongers in any society.

"Azeel, one of the strangers is looking for you," a female Martian announced. Azeel turned around, seeing the youngest of the strangers under the arm of the female. The other humans turned around as well, surprised to see Susan.

"Susan, what is the matter?" Ian asked worried, as Susan shook her head.

"It's horrible, Ian! Come! You must come with me!" she insisted, as she began dragging the others with her. Azeel followed as well.

When they all arrived back in the room, Susan pointed to the strange object that had been left there. She had tried to explain the situation as well as she could while they had walked. Azeel had, with no small amount of hissing, explained that Greizt was one of the exiles that had been banished from their village. How he was still here was a mystery.

In the beginning, Azeel had maintained that Susan must have heard wrong, but after Susan repeated the conversation to him, Azeel found the idea of Greizt being there much better than thinking that more of his people was becoming Aggressives.

He approached the item, lifting it as easily as was it a twig.

"A Rilse."

Susan blinked.

"I wasn't even able to lift it, it must weigh a ton," she commented. The Doctor furrowed his brow, as Azeel turned back towards them.

"We must tell the Chieftain," he insisted, and the Doctor nodded.

"I think that would be wise. Lead the way, dear boy," he said, motioning towards the door. Azeel moved incredibly fast, the humans had to jog to keep up with him, though he was simply walking with a little more spring in his step than usual.

"Do you think the Chieftain will believe us, Doctor?" Barbara asked, and the Doctor smiled.

"He will. I have a plan."

"What kind of plan, Doctor?" Odie asked curiously, but he just smiled.

"You will just have to wait and see, Odie. I am trusting you to do your part," he said cryptically, making Odie blink.


	14. An Extraterrestrial Adventure - Part 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

**This is the last part of Odie's first adventure. I really hope you enjoyed it, and if any of you found a mistake somewhere in the lore, please do correct me :o TARDIS wiki is a terribly confusing place.**

* * *

The humans arrived in the Chieftain's room, Odie glad to see they wouldn't be interrupting anything again. The Chieftain was seated at the table, calmly chatting with one of the envoys over a cup of... Well, Odie assumed it was what passed for iced tea?

He stood up when Azeel entered, nodding.

"What is it?" he asked, as Azeel kneeled in front of his father, showing him the item. What was it called again?

"This Rilse was placed inside the strangers' room, Chieftain. The youngest human tells me that some Aggressives intends to frame them for sabotaging the Water Pump," he shared. Hisses spread around the room, and Odie shuddered. She didn't care if the Martians were peaceful, those hisses scared her. The Chieftain took the Rilse, and looked towards the humans.

"Who is the youngest amongst you?" he asked, and they all looked to Susan. Her lower lip was quivering; she was obviously not comfortable with the idea of speaking to the Chieftain. Odie smiled, reaching out for the younger girl. Susan slowly took Odie's hand in her own, approaching the Chieftain.

"I am," she stuttered.

"Who are these Aggressives who wishes to frame you?" he asked.

"I, ehm, thought I heard the name of Greizt," she muttered, and when hisses sounded all around them again, she shut up like an oyster. Odie wrapped an arm around Susan's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Greizt in the city? Impossible," the Chieftain hissed.

"But the humans could not know his name if not they had heard it, Chieftain," Azeel pointed out. The Chieftain shook his head.

"Someone could have told them," one of the envoys suggested.

"Impossible. I have been with them for as long as they have been in the city," Azeel quickly replied.

"But who would hide him?" another of the Martians, this one a female, asked, and Susan slowly got her voice working again.

"Usloo was there with him."

"_Usloo_" This hiss was thrown around the room, some in anger and others in disbelief.

"Have you any proof of this, traveler?" the Chieftain asked, and Susan slowly shook her head.

"I heard Greizt talk to him, that's all," she admitted.

This, of course, was not enough to convince the Chieftain. After all, what leader would believe one of his own was a criminal, based only by evidence and the statement of a witness? ... Odie groaned, rubbing her forehead, as the Chieftain dismissed them again.

"Then what about the Water Pipes? Azeel said that the Rilse could easily be responsible for those punctures," she reminded him, and the Chieftain shook his head.

"But they could also simply be caused by animal bites," he replied. The Doctor folded his hands as he stepped forward.

"With all due respect, Chieftain, I have a proposition," he said, and the Chieftain turned towards the aging man.

"Speak then." The Doctor nodded, a slight bow in his step forward.

"An easy way to settle this would simply be to summon Usloo, and have him tell you where he was during the bazaar," he suggested, and the Chieftain became silent with thought.

A few moments passed, but he eventually nodded.

"Very well. Azeel, bring Usloo here," he commanded, and their friend quickly bowed, leaving the room in a hurry.

* * *

Of course, Usloo himself denied every charge as soon as he stepped in the door. Odie couldn't see what the Doctor had hoped for with bringing him here.

"But then who was it that placed the Rilse in our room?" Susan asked, clearly disliking being a liar to such a degree, that her fear of speaking to the green Martians was overcome. A hiss from Usloo, the latest in a line of many.

"You must have used it to sabotage the Water Pump yourself, and now you are trying to frame it on me."

"AH-HAH!"

Everyone, and I mean everyone, jumped at the sudden exclamation from the Doctor, and they all looked to the old man, who looked as if Usloo had just gifted him a very precious object.

"What on Earth are you so happy about, Doctor?" Odie asked incredulously. The Doctor smirked, facing Usloo.

"But if we were indeed the ones to have punctured the Water Pipe with the Rilse, would that not require us to be able to lift it?"

The humans soon understood what he meant, although the Martians didn't.

"What do you mean, Doctor?" Azeel asked, expressing the confusion of all the Martians.

"Whereas you people can easily use the Rilse, the five of us do not have the strength required to even lift it off of the ground," he explained. The Chieftain hissed, but not a loud hiss indicating anger; this was a softer hiss.

"Would you care to demonstrate, Doctor?" he asked, and this had the five humans go on turns to try and lift the Rilse. Every single one of them failed, and even when two of them paired up, they could barely lift the heavy tool an inch off of the ground. Azeel nodded.

"This settles it. The strangers could, by no means, have sabotaged the Water Pump, and they could not even have lifted the Rilse into their room," he summed up, turning towards Usloo. Usloo was in a dire state. He was wheezing and hissing so frantically, Odie wondered if he would be sweating if he was a human.

"Usloo, your idea was wrong."

"It won't matter! You're too late to do anything about it! Greizt has already gone to destroy the Water Pump!" Usloo shut up quickly, but the damage had been done.

Loud hisses erupted from everywhere around them, and as two of the Martians overpowered Usloo, forcing him to the ground, the Chieftain stood up and began pacing back and forth.

"They are going to stop the cooling system, and then when you're all vulnerable, they will attack you," Susan said loudly, trying to make herself audible over the many hisses.

"We still have time! Some of us could go up to stop them," Ian insisted, but Azeel shook his head.

"We become slower in the heat, we won't make it in time."

"Then let us go up there!"

Everyone turned to look at Odie, who had been the one to come with the suggestion. She nodded eagerly.

"We can move quickly in the heat, so we can run towards the water pump, while some of your people makes their way to it. Greizt and his Aggressives are too strong for us humans to fight, but we can at least distract them until you get there," she suggested.

A chuckle was heard from the Doctor, who nodded.

"I think that is a most excellent idea, what about you, Chieftain?" he asked.

"Agreed. But you must move quickly," the Chieftain insisted, and Odie turned back towards the others.

"I am going. Anyone coming with me?"

Ian volunteered, while the others doubted that they could run fast enough. This resulted in Odie and Ian running through the village, as fast as they could. It was no problem making their way out of the village, the problem came when they got out. The sandy plain was hard to get a good speed on, and Ian soon discarded his loafers. He had trouble keeping up to the younger girl, who seemed to be running as fast as a horse.

The sun scorched down upon the plain, making sweat run down their faces, and tire them unnecessarily. The shade of the forest was welcome when they finally reached it, but they did not stop running until they reached the creek from before.

"The pump must be somewhere nearby," Ian reasoned. Odie nodded, looking up and down the creek.

"If only we knew which way."

"Odie, be quiet a moment," Ian asked, and Odie tried to calm her breath as best as she could. Had he heard something? For a while, all the two humans could hear was the trickle of the water around their feet, but soon they heard it. Leaves being cut, branches being snapped, and the unmistakable wheezing of the Martians. It was coming from further down.

Ian and Odie looked at each other, grinning, as they grabbed each other's hands and followed the creek in the direction of the noises. They tried to make as much noise as possible, splashing the water around with every stride. Before long, they came to a large lake, and a few meters on their right was a white machine. It was spluttering, as it sucked up water from the lake, and led it through silver pipes running down into the ground.

And after a little while, a small army of Martians came bursting out from the forest. It had to be every Aggressive banished over the past years. Ian groaned.

"Think we can outrun all of them?" he asked, and Odie smiled.

"Maybe, maybe not. Think Greizt is prone to speeches?" she whispered back, as she tightened her grip on Ian's hand.

"Which one of you is Greizt?" she asked loudly. A wheezing from behind them made the two humans' eyes widen.

"I am."

"DUCK!"

Odie and Ian both crouched down, barely getting out of the way before their heads would've been smashed by a powerful hit from the Martian, and they ran around him in a quick movement. And just to finish it off, Ian smashed his shoulder into the hard, reptilian body, causing Greizt to fall forward.

The two humans took a few steps backwards, for safety measures, as Greizt tried to get back on his feet, wheezing all the while.

"Why are you doing this, Greizt?" Ian asked aloud. The Martian hissed.

"Be quiet, traveler. You will not need to know my plans once you are dead," he retorted, and Odie gritted her teeth together, as she and Ian took another few steps back.

"There is no honor in dying without knowing why," she attempted, making Greizt look towards them with his large, black eyes. He stepped a bit on the spot, obviously wondering to himself whether he should kill them or not.

Ian blinked.

"Well done, girl," he whispered, and Odie nodded briefly.

"We aren't out of the woods yet," she whispered back, before she stood straight.

"If I have to die, I will at least want to know it is for an honorable cause," she called. And just as she knew he would, Greizt hissed.

"Great honor in our cause. We have all been banished from our villages; some for starting fights, others for not giving the gifts needed, and others again for arguing with their Chieftains. We have been stripped of our honor. But we will regain it, once we start our own village, a better village!"

Agreeing hisses were heard from the larger group of Aggressives gathered behind Greizt.

"What honor is there in attacking foes who are weakened by sabotage?" Ian asked, making more agitated hisses sound from them. "Is it not more honorable to fight them at their best, and know that your victory was won by just means?"

Odie smiled as the Martians were stepping where they stood; an action she had come to associate with nervousness and confusion from their species.

"I think, in reality, you know that you do not stand a chance if you don't weaken them first," Odie said aloud, as she heard the same noises from the forest as the ones that had led them here. They needed to continue speaking, so that Greizt and his accomplices wouldn't hear it.

"For all your talk of honor and justice, you are really just cowards and willing to use underhanded tactics to get what you want!"

Greizt hissed loudly.

"We are honorable!"

"Then prove it!"

Ian's eyes glimmered as Azeel came out of the bushels from Odie's left. Greizt hissed loudly, and when his small group of Aggressives turned around, they saw themselves surrounded by every able-bodied Martian from the village. Azeel stepped in front of Ian and Odie, as he pointed a finger on Greizt.

"If you truly have honor left in you, then defeat me in single combat. I challenge you to a duel, defending the honor of my village!"

Greizt hissed in an agitated fashion. This was clearly not how he had intended his revolution to progress. But whatever measure of honor he had left could not ignore a challenge, and so he stepped forward.

"I accept your challenge!"

The two Martians began circling around each other, their wheezing subsiding as something else took place. They were no longer considering their body, the way the heat tired them and made their body wish to hibernate. They were focusing on each other, the slightest tension of muscle and every step the opponent took.

Odie felt goose bumps break out on her arms, despite the hot air, and she slowly attempted to rub them away, while not taking her eyes away from the two Martians. A fight between two Martians, Azeel had explained to her, was a battle of endurance; who could keep concentration long enough, who could find a weak spot first, and who could protect themselves from attacks.

Greizt was bigger, possibly also older, than Azeel, but his aggressive nature made him impatient. This worked to Azeel's advantage. Greizt stepped forward, sending his arm in from the right towards Azeel's head, but Azeel crouched out of reach, as he gave Greizt an uppercut.

Greizt stumbled backwards in reaction to the strength of Azeel's hit, but when Azeel followed to land another hit, Greizt's left arm was sent forward and punched Azeel in the stomach. Azeel doubled up, hissing from the pain, but he was aware enough to step out of the way from Greizt's elbow that came swooshing down from above.

The two Martians were, once again, locked in the observation of each other. No words were spoken, they were unnecessary, and the tension stopped anyone else from saying anything either. Out of the corner of her eye, Odie saw the Doctor, Susan and Barbara arriving with the Chieftain, but she was too on edge from the atmosphere of the fight to make any movements.

The fight had lasted for almost ten minutes under the baking sun, and this was when it would be decided. Greizt threw himself forwards, and Azeel stepped to the side, sending an elbow towards Greizt's neck. Greizt, however, had counted on this and grabbed the elbow in one of his hands, throwing his other hand upwards in an attempt of an uppercut. Azeel send a kick in from below, sweeping the legs out from under Greizt, who fell as heavy as he was onto the ground.

One final bash from Azeel's arm onto Greizt's neck was enough to make the other Martian go limp. Whether he had died or merely fainted was not to say. But there was no cheering and no applause. For Martians were, by heart, a peaceful race, and even the violence necessary to protect what they loved pained them.

* * *

"We thank you for your hospitality, Chieftain, but I fear we must be on our way now," the Doctor said with a smile as the group walked up the creek. Greizt was being carried by his group of Aggressives, who in turn were spurred on by the other Martians.

"What will happen to Greizt?" Susan asked, and Azeel looked back towards the unconscious Martian.

"He will be brought back to the village. It is too dangerous to simply banish him again," he explained, and Barbara bit her lip.

"You will not kill him, right?" she asked, frightened, and Azeel shook his head.

"No, there has been enough violence. We are thinking of maybe copying your people's use of a 'prison'," he admitted, and Barbara and Susan smiled.

"If you are certain you will not stay, then I will not stop you, Doctor. But you are always welcome amongst us," the Chieftain said with a nod. Odie smiled, her arm linked with the Doctor.

"I hope you won't have any more problems with the Aggressives from now on," she said, making the Chieftain wheeze in a chuckling manner.

"So do I, stranger, so do I."

After saying goodbye to their new friends, the group slowly made their way towards the TARDIS. It was quite easy when they found Odie and Susan's discarded shoes.

"Why couldn't you just tell me what you needed me to do, Doctor?" Odie asked. The Doctor laughed.

"Why should I tell you, Odie? I knew you would suggest it on your own, so it was a waste of time for me to tell you, wasn't it?" he said. Odie groaned, shaking her head.

"Your logic is faulty, Doctor," she accused, as they arrived at the Police Box.

"His logic isn't the problem – his childish view on life is," Ian corrected her, and the Doctor scowled at the young man.

"Yes yes, that's quite enough out of you, Chesterton," he grumbled, as he led his little band of travelers into the Police Box. And as he did, he turned around, bowing slightly and entered himself. And as the TARDIS dematerialized, Azeel blinked.

"What kind of machine was that!?"

* * *

**So! How did ****you like Odie's first adventure in the TARDIS? :)**

**Please stay tuned for the next chapter, another precious little interlude before Odie's second adventure commences! :)**


	15. Mapping the TARDIS

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

**I am sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, but real life got my mood into the bottomless pit. But here it is! Hope you'll enjoy this little appetizer :)**

* * *

"Well, that was fun," Odie giggled, as the Doctor and Susan set the TARDIS in motion again. She felt the strange machine hum beneath her feet as they began flying again, and Ian and Barbara laughed.

"It was certainly one of our more peaceful meetings with aliens, right Doctor?" Ian asked, and the Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

"Indeed. They were pacifists and an honorable people, fortunately," he commented, making Susan smile.

"I think Azeel liked you, Odie," she said, making Odie laugh.

"He was a good person," she agreed.

"And you handled yourself pretty well, under the circumstances."

Odie giggled at this compliment. It sounded as if they had expected her to freak out at the first sight of aliens. Only the Doctor grinned in a very sly way, making Odie wonder if he had known all along how she would react.

"Be that as it may, I think I want to go back to my room. The run to the pump tired me a bit," she admitted, and Susan laughed.

"I bet. You ran off like the wind!"

"You should have seen her. I could barely keep up with her," Ian agreed. Odie blushed a bit. Running was one of her few talents, a skill gained through many years of tag through the streets of New Orleans.

"Odie has always been good at running. Susan dear, can you get her back to her room? I will be finding a suitable destination to take her next," the Doctor asked, and while Susan obliged and began leading Odie out the door into the TARDIS, Odie barely heard Ian starting one of his countless discussions with the Doctor, concerning the fact of whether the Doctor was capable of choosing destinations or not.

"Is Theta bad at steering the TARDIS?" Odie asked curiously, making Susan smile cautiously. She looked behind her, wary, before returning her gaze to the other girl.

"A TARDIS is originally meant to be steered by six people, so there is not much grandfather can do with just me and him. He has been trying to return Ian and Barbara to their own time for about a year now," Susan admitted, making Odie blink.

"It's that hard to steer this thing?"

"It is that hard to steer it correctly, yes. It is completely safe this way, but as for pin-point accuracy, grandfather's method is a bit lacking."

Odie giggled at the thought, as the two arrived at her room. Odie blinked, looking around.

"Wasn't that faster than last time?" she asked, confused. Susan smiled, nodding.

"We took a bit of a different route. Last time, we went to my room first, remember?"

"How big is the TARDIS anyway? On the inside, I mean," Odie asked curiously, making Susan blink. Did she even know that, she wondered to herself. Neither she nor her grandfather had really devoted time to exploring the TARDIS after they acquired it. Moreover, it was a Type 40 TARDIS, a type which neither her grandfather nor her knew much about.

"I actually don't know, Odie."

"What?"

"I don't know. We don't have any maps or anything, and it's not like grandfather read the manual before we left," she admitted. Odie blinked. And she was trusting that very same man to safely pilot her through the universe? Oh dear...

"Susan!"

The sudden exclamation made the young Time Lady jump.

"Yes?"

Odie smirked.

"There is no choice! We _have_ to do that!"

"That?"

* * *

"You're going to MAP the TARDIS?" Ian asked with an incredulous look on his face. The Doctor was chuckling to himself, while still playing with that control panel of his. Barbara and Ian seemed thoroughly confused at the sheer idea of the undertaking Odie had decided she and Susan would be taking on. Susan herself seemed equally confused. What had Odie gotten her into this time?

"Of course! Susan and the Doctor knowing their way around is one thing, but it can't be fair that if any of us needs to go somewhere, we _have_ to take one of them along. So! I will begin mapping the TARDIS between adventures!" Odie exclaimed. Susan sighed.

"But the TARDIS is very large, Odie!"

"That just means I have more time to do it," Odie said with a grin.

"Grandfather, say something!" Susan pleaded, making the Doctor turn around. Susan was no doubt hoping he would talk Odie out of her crazy idea, but he merely smiled.

"I can provide a small machine to map for you."

"Grandfather!"

"It would be insufficient to give you pen and paper, when the TARDIS is as large as she is," the Doctor admitted, and Odie laughed, jumping to the old man and throwing her arms around her.

"Thank you! So, this machine?" she asked with a giggle. The Doctor nodded as he walked to one of his worktables lined near the walls of the control room, and when he returned, he had a small machine in his hands.

"Hold down this button, dear, and it will track your movements through the TARDIS. On this screen, you will be able to see the map you've made so far, and can retrace your steps easily."

Odie gaped, staring at the little device the Doctor handed her. It was cold to the touch, and yet it was already whirring and humming with energy.

"When we land, I can send a signal to you, and this red light will start blinking. That means you should return as quickly as you can. And if you want to give a name to the rooms, just speak out loud while holding the button inside the room, and the machine will handle that too," the Doctor finished his tutorial, and Odie blinked.

"You understand?"

There was a small pause.

"I think so?"

* * *

In the end, Ian, Susan and Odie departed on their mapping-quest. Barbara said she wanted to rest, and the Doctor was busy at the console.

Odie led the way with great enthusiasm, while Susan and Ian sighed. The only reason they came along, was to ensure that Odie would not get into trouble. As they said, Odie could get into a lot of potential trouble if they left her alone.

The most important part of the map was mapping the kitchen, the toilet and every one of their rooms. Ian's room was impressive. Bookshelves covered every inch of the walls, apart from the corner wherein his bed stood. Models of various scientific items hang from the attic, and stood on a large desk in the middle of the room.

Barbara's room was less impressive. Books were there lots off, but the room was arranged in a very sophisticated and feminine manner, with bright, calm colors and plants to lighten the atmosphere. Odie whistled at the sight.

"Barbara really is a grown woman, huh?" she commented, before leading the party further away from the known areas of the TARDIS. The weird stuff began happening soon.

"What the- Odie, Ian, come here! Hurry!"

Susan had gone off on her own while Odie and Ian looked around a rather weird room. It was large, empty and shone with a pinkish light. Smelled of roses. It was a calming room. The two left the room, Odie naming it 'The Pink Room' for now. She wouldn't forget it that way. The two walked in the general direction of Susan's voice, surprised to find her a few meters away. She was standing in one of the doorways they hadn't explored yet, her eyes wide with surprise.

"What is it, Susan?" Odie asked curiously. Susan pointed with astonishment, and Ian stepped behind her.

"Well, I will be- Look at this!"

They all three entered the room, blinking to figure out if this was some kind of optical illusion.

"A gymnasium?"

* * *

As the three walked around amongst the many machines, Odie couldn't help but giggle.

"What in the world is a _gymnasium_ doing in the TARDIS? I can't imagine the Doctor working out in his age," she commented, making Susan laugh from the very same picture, which had made Odie giggle.

"Indeed. My grandfather has never been very fond of sports," she commented, looking at the stationary bike in front of her.

"Maybe I should come here between adventures. That way, Odie might not be faster than me anymore," he commented with a laugh, making Odie giggle.

"Good idea. You're looking just a bit chubby," she teased, making Ian scoff.

"Chubby indeed! You're a cheeky one, aren't you?" he asked, making Odie shrug innocently.

The discovery of sports rooms didn't stop there. They found no less than nine squash courts, a croquet club and field, a huge pool and three tennis courts. At this point, Ian commented at how extravagant it was to equip a time machine with so many recreational areas. Susan couldn't agree more, while Odie found it all very amusing.

They also found a garage, featuring many machines that, if Ian and Susan were to be believed, would become the main method of transportation in Earth's future. Odie found it hard to believe.

They also found a sick bay, a scullery room, a cloister room and many gardens. They had decided to take a break in one of these gardens when the red light began blinking. Odie and Susan were playing tag on the large meadow, under the bright light of the artificial sun, while Ian was reading one of the books he had grabbed in his room when they were there.

The mapping device was laying next to him on the ground, when the very sharp flash caught his attention. He picked it up and stood once more, stretching a bit.

"Girls, playtime's over. We're landing," Ian called, making the two girls run back to him. They were both breathing heavily, laughing.

"Okay, let's go back then," Susan agreed.

Getting back didn't take long, now that they had somewhat of a map to go by. But it was a very large map, and Odie suspected it would take a very long time to map the whole of the TARDIS.

None the less, they did come back to the control room much easier than expected, and when they did, the Doctor and Barbara were looking at the scanner screen with puzzled looks on their faces.

"What's wrong, you two?" Ian asked curiously, also turning his eyes to the scanner.

And when he did, he found the source of the confusion. There was nothing there. Nothing at all. It was pitch black.

"What kind of trouble have you gotten us into this time, Doctor?"


	16. A Cold Endeavour - Part 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

**Does anyone know the references used in this chapter? ;) Hope you'll have fun.**

* * *

"Does the scanner do this often?" Odie asked with a sly smirk, as the Doctor grumbling exited the TARDIS. He didn't take it very well when people suggested his piloting of the TARDIS was less than perfect. Ian and Barbara laughed, as Odie quickly exited the TARDIS, going to the Doctor's form and wrapping her arms around his.

"Oh, don't act so insulted, Theta. We're just teasing," Odie said with a smile, making the Doctor scoff.

"Rather than babble like that, maybe you would like to help me find out exactly why it's so dark around here, hm?" he asked, making Odie smile.

"Yes of course, Doctor, whatever you say," she agreed.

"Ooh, it's freezing out here," Susan complained, as she exited the TARDIS with a few fur coats in her arms. It wasn't until Susan pointed it out that Odie noticed it herself, but it really was very cold.

"The TARDIS' thermometer says -18 degrees," Ian commented, and Odie blinked.

"Is this your weird Celcius scale again?" she asked with an impatient look on her face, and Ian laughed.

"I'm sorry Odie. In Fahrenheit, it's about 0 degrees," he explained, and Odie shivered involuntarily.

"No wonder it's freezing," she commented. Susan walked to Odie, draping the thick fur coat around her.

"Don't you think you should borrow some of our clothes? A skirt isn't the way to walk around out here," she commented, and Odie nodded.

"I think you're right, Susan."

"Go on girls, the three of us will look around," the Doctor said, just barely illuminated by the light streaming out from the inside of the TARDIS.

The two girls did as the old man said, re-entering the TARDIS.

"Which planet are we on, Susan?" Odie asked as she walked through the door leading to the wardrobe. Susan quickly took a look at the different interfaces on the console, giggling.

"What's so funny?" Odie called from inside the wardrobe, scoffing at the sight of some of the outfits in there. She found a rather ridiculous beige coat with red trims and four pockets. Had the Doctor ever worn something like this? She seriously hoped not. And right next to it hang a coat in a pattern of many colored patches. What in the world did the person wearing these things think of themselves? It looked positively horrid.

"Would you believe me if I said we were on Earth?"

A series of huge bangs sounded, as Odie made several boxes fall from the shelves in the wardrobe.

"WHAT!?"

She came tumbling out the door, half dressed in an egg-colored jumpsuit. She almost fell while trying to zip up the jumpsuit and stomp her feet into the big boots she had found.

"Earth? Are you serious?"

"Well yes, that's what the TARDIS' instruments say. Granted, we're a bit ahead of your time, but this _is_ Earth," she insisted, making Odie blink confused.

"I believe you. Even if you told me the Earth rested on the back of a giant turtle, I'd believe you," she commented, blinking. Susan blinked as well, a little smile threatening to break out on her face.

"A giant turtle?"

"Don't think more of it, Susan, let's just get out," Odie ordered with a grin on her face, pushing Susan out of the TARDIS.

"But if Earth was resting on a giant turtle, what would that turtle be resting on?" Susan persisted.

"It's no use, Susan! It's turtles all the way down!" Odie maintained with a scoff.

* * *

The reason the Scanner showed only darkness was rather simple. They were deep in a cave system, where natural sunlight didn't reach. The Doctor and Ian returned to the TARDIS, soon coming out with flashlights in their hands. As Odie was unfamiliar with the concept, Susan explained the science behind it as the group walked along one of the many tunnels.

"So this battery transfers electricity to the lightbulb, making it light up?" Odie tried, and Susan laughed.

"In simple terms, yes," she admitted.

"How useful! Lanterns are terribly out of fashion, hm?" Odie laughed, making Ian smile.

"You're beginning to sound like the Doctor, Odie," he commented, making Odie's face contort.

"Oh no, anything but that!"

"And what's that supposed to mean, hm?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow. Odie giggled nervously.

"Pay it no mind, Doctor, really. Rather, why is it so cold?" she asked, attempting to change the subject. The Doctor scowled at her, but nonetheless answered.

"According to the instruments, we've arrived on Earth during an Ice Age. Judging from the temperature, I'd say the ending of one. We're about two millennia before your time," he explained. Odie blinked.

"An Ice Age?"

"Oh dear girl, do you know nothing?" the Doctor asked in a horrified tone, and while Odie frowned in his general direction, Susan took it upon herself to explain the term to her friend.

"An Ice Age is a period of time where large areas of the Earth is completely covered in ice. It has happened several times, natural causes," she explained, and Odie sighed.

"I am learning new things at a rapid speed," she commented, making Barbara pet her shoulder.

"We're getting closer to an exit," the Doctor commented, making Barbara blink.

"How do you know?" she asked. The darkness of the caves was as impenetrable as always. Odie smiled.

"I know the answer to this one," she commented, gently tapping her nose. "When in doubt, follow your nose. The air is less stale here," She took the lead; stalking into the direction from whence she could feel a slight draft. Ian followed her closely with his flashlight, while the Doctor, Barbara and Susan took their sweet time, letting Odie run around as she chose.

"Be careful if you do find the exit, Odie. We don't know what's around here," Susan called.

"You worry too much, Susan!"

The Doctor smiled. If only Odie knew what manner of creatures existed on Earth at this time. Oh well, that would be fun for another time.

Not one minute passed before Odie's clear voice rang throughout the caverns.

"I found the exit!" This made a certain spring burst out in the others' steps, and they soon found the exit Odie mentioned. It was rather hard to miss, of course, what with a certain amount of daylight streaming into the musty cave. Odie stood in the opening taking deep breaths.

"Apart from the dreaded cold, it's nice to see daylight," she commented with a laugh. And indeed, the temperature had dropped considerably. The wind blowing into the cave caused this; the Doctor's educated guess was that the air was now -20 degrees, and before Odie had the chance to ask Ian translated it to -4 Fahrenheit.

Once again did Odie shiver at the mention a number on the cold.

"Were any humans alive at this time?" Odie asked curiously and the Doctor shrugged.

"Well, in a sense. There are certainly members of your species alive at this time, however they may not look like you think they should," he said cryptically. Odie blinked curiously.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and the Doctor smiled.

"Well, I think you seeing them for yourself would be better than me simply explaining," he admitted. In truth, he would not explain, because he knew Odie practiced a certain amount of religion, so he would rather have some evidence in front of him before trying to explain human evolution to her.

"Do you think there are humans around here?" Susan asked curiously, and the Doctor looked around.

"Well, I am not entirely sure where we are on Earth, but judging from the temperature we should be a fair distance away from any sort of vegetation, and it is a fact that humans tend to settle near either water or vegetation," he speculated, and Odie looked around. She saw no such thing anywhere near their location.

"I will take some samples of the ice around here, try to make some accurate estimates," the Doctor said with a smile. "You can go about your business if you like. Just don't go too far away, I would prefer you to be within calling distance."

"Of course, Doctor."

The little group spread out in a small area, and Odie decided to enjoy the snow. This made her lie down and make snow angels. Once she had made three, she showcased them proudly to Susan, who laughed at the sight.

"You're crazy. It's freezing and you're making silhouettes in the snow," Susan pointed out, making Odie smirk. She, as silently as she could, squatted down, took a giant fistful of snow in one hand and then proceeded to make a ball out of it.

"Well, I can think of more fun things to do with snow."

This sentence alarmed the young Time Lord, making her twirl around, just in time to receive a snowball to the face. She spluttered when the snow entered her mouth and nostrils, and Odie laughed at the sound.

Not long passed before all but the Doctor were engaged in a rather intense snowball fight. Soon, they teamed up, hiding behind improvised walls of snow; Ian and Susan against Odie and Barbara.

The Doctor smiled at the spectacle. He was glad they enjoyed themselves, truly. He carefully dug a bit of the snow away, but then blinked.

"Red?" he wondered aloud, as he looked at the scattered red snow he had uncovered. He picked it up, tipping his head slightly.

"Peculiar."

But it all made sense when he dug deeper.

"Everyone. Come over here," the Doctor called. Confused at the Doctor's urgent tone, the other four made their way towards the old man. When they got there, they widened their eyes.

"But how?" Ian asked.

In front of the Doctor, having been buried by a large amount of snow, was a body. But rather than the body being prehistorical, of the race Homo Erectus, which now populated the Earth, the body was quite modern. A fully evolved Homo Sapiens, killed by a gunshot.

He was a scientist, as indicated by his white labcoat, and a pair of spectacles covered his still, open eyes. Barbara and Susan hugged each other, looking away from the body, as Odie sat next to the Doctor, finding solace in his presence. And as the Doctor patted her hands, resting on his elbow, Ian looked at the older man.

"How is a Homo Sapiens murdered by gunpoint 1,8 million years before he's supposed to live?"

* * *

**DAM DAM DAM DAM! A mystery indeed! XD So, how many references did you catch? I am curious xD**

**And this mystery will be solved in the next chapter, hopefully :O Or maybe it will be a long mystery? Hmm, decisions decisions! X) See you later!**


	17. A Cold Endeavour - Part 2

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

**So, very well done Theta McBride for spotting the 'Lord of the Rings' reference! XD The other reference I used was from an episode of QI, with the Earth resting on the back of a pillar of turtles. And, if it counts, I also mentioned the coats of two future Doctors :D**

**On that note, off you go! Enjoy!**

* * *

How is a Homo Sapiens murdered by gunpoint 1,8 million years before he's supposed to live? That was the million-dollar question, so to speak. The Doctor was at a loss.

"Another Time Machine?" Ian suggested, making Barbara frown.

"I doubt it. His clothes are normal in my eyes, which means he must be from the 20th century. We don't have anything alike time machine-technology in the progress," she insisted, making Odie blink.

"But then, how? Did he pass through a Time Rift, or did someone take him here?" she asked.

"The TARDIS would have informed us if there was temporal activity nearby," Susan said with a thoughtful tone in her voice.

"But couldn't it be too far away for the TARDIS to notice it?" Barbara asked.

"I doubt he could have walked far with that gunshot in his chest," Odie pointed out.

"So someone brought him here?"

"By accident or on purpose?"

The Doctor hummed thoughtfully.

"The important question, is whether he was sent her before or after he was shot," he corrected, making Ian blink.

"Why is that, Doctor?"

"Because," Barbara realized. "If he came here before he was shot, the one who shot him might still be around."

"He could have shot himself when he realized he didn't have any method of getting back," Susan suggested.

"Wouldn't that require a gun to be near the body?" Odie asked, and Susan swallowed the lump forming in her throat. This made Barbara pull the girl closer to her, attempting to comfort her.

"I don't know! I don't want to be here anymore," Susan said with a screeching voice, and Odie smiled slowly.

"We can't just leave him here," she attempted, but the Doctor shook his head.

"There is nothing we can do for him now. We should head back to the TARDIS, see if we can catch a trace of Temporal Energy," the Doctor suggested. Susan and Odie both bit their lips, but agreed.

The small group cast one last look at the body, before turning their backs on it and going back to the cave, perhaps with a bit more haste in their steps than otherwise. Getting back to the TARDIS was a lot easier than getting out of the cave had been, and when the flashlights finally did illuminate the blue box, the group had had their fill of darkness for one day.

Opening the doors to the machine, the Doctor smiled quaintly at the feeling of Odie's hands on his elbow.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, and, for a while, the age in his voice betrayed Odie's ears, and she imagined his younger self in the darkness.

"Will we be able to follow the energy trail?" she asked slowly, making the Doctor shrug. She knew because of the way his elbow contracted in her hands.

"In theory, yes. It depends on how long he has been lying in the snow," he admitted.

"I'm a bit scared."

"You will be fine. You are Odie Jackson," he reminded her, making Odie laugh hesitantly.

"So I am."

Then the door to the TARDIS was opened, and the darkness' illusion was broken. She smiled at the familiar face, who also smiled at her, as the entire group proceeded into the TARDIS. Either the others hadn't heard the hushed conversation between her and the Doctor, or they simply chose not to mention it.

Whatever the reason, Odie was grateful.

Susan and the Doctor immediately walked to the console, beginning to push various buttons and read off multiple dials.

"It is faint, Grandfather, but the TARDIS is picking up a temporal energy trail."

"Is there more than one?"

"No. It is a one-way-trail," Susan reported, making the Doctor hum slightly.

"That means that he was sent here after he was shot?" Barbara asked.

"Either that, or his attacker is still here," Ian agreed.

Odie walked to Susan, looking at the same dial as her. She wasn't quite sure what the graph said, but she did see a line indicating the energy. She assumed, that if there was a return-trail too, then the graph would be showing two lines.

"Can we follow it?"

The Doctor nodded slowly.

"Yes."

The group looked amongst themselves.

"Is it wise? Won't we be going into the lion's nest like that?" Barbara asked.

"It is possible the attacker is still here, and in that case, he won't be going home any time soon," Odie reminded her.

"And if he can?"

"Then it is probable that he will return to the same spot as he left from," the Doctor answered.

"Then let's go. We won't get anything done staying here," Ian said with a smile, making Odie grin widely. She had been worried, for a time, that the others wouldn't go investigate it. It was an unnecessary risk, true, but Odie could not bear the idea of not giving that poor man in the snow some closure.

Susan seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown at the thought of chasing down a murderer. Odie walked to her, joining her in the adjacent room, where Susan was writhing her hands while sitting on the couch.

"Are you okay, Susan?"

"No! We get into trouble enough as it is, without us running around, attempting to catch murderers," she answered in a snap, making Odie smile and intertwine her hands behind her back.

A few seconds passed before Susan sighed deeply, shaking her head.

"Oh, I'm sorry Odie. I am just a bit on edge," she apologized, making Odie nod.

"I understand, Susan, but you know this; if we don't get after this guy, the poor man in the snow will never have justice on his side," Odie begged. Susan sighed, as Odie sat next to her.

"But we could get hurt, Odie. Did my grandfather not promise your mother to bring you home safely?" Susan asked.

"So he did – but neither he nor I could forgive ourselves if we did not do what we can for that poor man," Odie answered. Susan giggled the tiniest bit, making Odie raise an eyebrow.

"That rhymed."

Odie laughed in return.

"You've lost it, Susan."

"That may very well be." She sighed a little, before smiling. "You're right, of course, Odie. I'm sorry," she then apologized, making Odie smile and put her arms around the – seemingly – younger girl.

"You're forgiven, Susan."

As the pair listened to the distinctive sound of the TARDIS taking off, they clenched each other's hands.

"We'll be fine – you'll see," Odie promised.

The group assumed that their destination was Earth, which proved to be quite accurate. The weird part of it was _when_.

"What do you mean we haven't changed time?" Ian asked once more, and the Doctor gave the exact same answer.

"Because we haven't, Chesterton."

It was inexplicable. Their location had changed a bit, and sure, their time had too. But not nearly as much as any of them had imagined.

They had travelled a year or two backwards, and rather than materializing in a cave, the TARDIS had parked itself in the midst of a few, naked trees.

Odie was the first out, eager to find any clues worthy of mention, while Susan remained inside the TARDIS with the Doctor and Ian, hoping to find some sort of lead as to where their mystery killer had gone off to. Barbara stood still in the door to the ship, keeping an eye on Odie who was wandering around in the deep snow.

When she asked the young girl what she was looking for, she said she was looking for tracks.

"It's not certain you will find any, Odie," Barbara reminded the young girl, and Odie frowned.

"I'd rather do this than sit quietly while Doc finds out why and how. I don't like sitting quietly," she complained, making Barbara giggle. Odie and the Doctor was a weird pair, despite their apparent long-standing friendship.

And as Odie slowly wandered further from the TARDIS, in her search of clues, Barbara was forced to follow her, in order to keep her in sight.

Ten minutes passed inside the TARDIS, before the Doctor finally grinned widely.

"I've got it! The person we are looking for took to the south," he exclaimed, making Ian raise an eyebrow.

"Are you certain, Doctor?" he asked, and Susan shrugged.

"Well, that is what the scanners are telling us."

"Oh, very well, we should go then."

He walked to the doorway, looking out into the cold, bleak world outside the ship.

"Odie?"

No answer came calling back to him. With a confused look on his face, he exited the TARDIS.

"Where are Odie and Barbara?" he asked aloud, making Susan and the Doctor join him on the outside. And as the Doctor locked the doors to the TARDIS, he felt worry stir in his old heart. Odie would most definitely not have strayed far from the TARDIS. Partly because she was too smart, partly because Barbara had kept an eye on her, and Barbara was too cautious to leave on her own.

Well, usually she was.

"ODIE!" Susan called in a scared voice.

Still no answer.

They were gone.

* * *

Barbara blinked, as the dark of her eyelids were replaced by the darkness of... Well, wherever she was. Where was she, she wondered. The last she could remember was following Odie around, as the younger girl had attempted to find the tracks of the suspect.

"Barbara? Are you awake?"

Barbara sat up, and she felt a hand on her arm, fumbling for her.

"Odie?"

"Yeah. You've been out for at least half an hour. Are you hurt?" Barbara couldn't see Odie at all. It was so dark, but she could hear her, and so she scooted closer to the girl.

"No, I'm fine. What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Odie muttered darkly, as the two women sat closer together, feeling safer in each other's company. "I haven't seen anyone. But we're in a cage."

"A cage!?" Barbara asked as she reached out in front of her. She moved a bit in order to continue in that direction, but she had barely moved ten inches before her hands felt the round wooden bars of mentioned cage.

"Yeah. But it's too modern for cavemen. We have to assume that it's the murderer that locked us in here," Odie said with a treacherous calm in her voice. Barbara was pretty sure that Odie was nowhere near calm.

"What about the others?" Barbara asked, feeling worried for their companions. Odie shrugged, and then remembered that Barbara of course couldn't see it.

"I don't know. I've been awake for some time, but I haven't heard or seen anyone. I hope the others are safe, wherever they are."

Both of them looked up when they heard sounds in the darkness. It sounded like movement. And gradually, a light began glowing somewhere in the distance, lighting up the cave wall.

"I have a feeling we should be more worried about ourselves right now," Barbara said with a shaking voice, as Odie stood up. The cage was barely big enough for her to stand up straight. And as the light came closer, the source became evident. It was a man in a lab coat, with a large black beard and equally long dirty hair, with a torch in hand.

* * *

"This has got to be their tracks, right?" Susan asked for the tenth time as they followed the rather obvious pair of footprints moving through the deep snow. The Doctor had stopped replying. It should be enough to have answered her six times, and Ian patted her back.

"It must be, Susan. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find them soon."

That was the general opinion, until the Doctor suddenly came to a halt and a frown settled on his face. The two younger people behind him stopped as well.

"What's the matter, Doctor?" Ian asked curiously, and the Doctor looked back at the young man.

"The tracks have stopped, my boy," he answered, and Susan came with a frightful little gasp. The footprints just ceased to continue in front of the Doctor, and yet there were no signs of Barbara and Odie anywhere.

"ODIE?" Ian called loudly, and Susan joined in. The Doctor slowly squatted, making sure not to strain his old body, as he examined the ground in front of the tracks. The snow was disturbed, although there were no tracks. He assumed that Barbara and Odie had been surprised by something, or someone, at this point, and whatever attacked them knew how to erase its tracks.

This hinted to something with a certain level of intelligence, and someone with a knowledge of their presence in this time. Otherwise, why would they have bothered to hide themselves, if not to hide from someone?

"Ahoy there!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, standing up at the sound of a stranger's voice. Susan and Ian joined him, as they watched a middle-aged man jump excitedly whilst waving at them, running hastily through the snow, causing large clouds of white powder to spring up behind him.

"Is it him?" Ian asked quietly, and the Doctor shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not."

Something about all this worried the Doctor. A lot.


	18. A Cold Endeavour - Part 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct.**

**Hello everyone! I know this si out of turn with my 'Hobbit'-story, but I wanted to upload a chapter as commemoration of the fact that I've now watched all of Classic Who! :D Now, on to the Movie, and then New Who xD Hopefully, I'll be up to date by the 50th Anniversary Special *_***

**Now! Have fun!**

* * *

"Hi there! I thought I was the only one left!" the man said loudly as he got close enough to the three Time Travelers. Susan sought safety behind her grandfather's figure, as said man eyed the new arrival with badly hidden suspicion.

"Left? There were others?" Ian asked surprised, making the man blink.

"Yes, of course there was! Didn't you-" The man abruptly stopped himself, squinting his eyes closely together and thoroughly inspected the three strangers in front of him. He then shook his head in surprise.

"Wait, I don't recognize you. You guys aren't scientists," he stated, making the Doctor look at him with a thoroughly offended look on his face.

"I am not what? I am most certainly a scientist, young man, and one of the best," he said indignantly, making the man shake his hands in front of him.

"I just meant you aren't one of the scientists from the expedition," the man quickly apologized, making Ian lean forward.

"What expedition?" The young man nodded eagerly, hoping to pacify the grumpy Doctor, no doubt.

"The Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition. 14 of us have been sent here to take samples, but I can't find any of the others!" the man said with desperation in his voice, and Ian nodded slowly. He knew about that expedition. It was a joint effort between Norway, Sweden and Britain to take samples from an area in the Antarctic after World War II.

"But you're not in-" Susan began, but the Doctor interrupted her.

"I see. We are in the terrible situation that we have lost some companions as well," he admitted, and the man's face lit up.

"There are more of you?" he asked. "I was hoping my SOS had gone through. I'm glad someone heard it."

The man seemed to think them part of a rescue operation. However, it was weird; Ian didn't remember any problems with this particular expedition. Then again, nothing was certain when travelling with the Doctor.

"How long have you been alone?" Ian asked, and the man turned to him, scratching his blonde head.

"I was with Egil and Bertil in the radio tent yesterday before I went to bed, since my guard shift wasn't until a few hours into the night. Bertil had the first shift. When I woke this morning, I hadn't been woken up for my shift, and they were both missing," the man explained. "We always made sure to stay together because the others vanished a little at a time."

Susan grabbed the Doctor's sleeve with an anxious look on her face.

"Grandfather, what if whatever has taken those scientists also took Odie and Barbara?" she asked, and the Doctor patted her hand with a thoughtful look on his face. It was certainly a possibility.

"And, have you tried searching for the missing scientists?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow and the man eagerly nodded, repeatedly.

"Yes, of course! But it is as if they simply disappeared in thin air! Even the dogs couldn't find them," the man said with a hopeless tone in his voice, as he looked around him with a paranoid look. "I don't like being out in the open like this, honestly. Too many unknown variables. Let's get back to the camp, and I'll answer any questions you might have."

He turned around and began trudging back the way he came, and the three travelers looked at each other briefly.

"Should we follow him?" Ian asked doubtfully, and the Doctor sighed deeply, nodding.

"Might as well. What little he has to say might get us closer to finding Barbara and Odie."

This was what led the three to end up in a small research camp not half an hour following their first encounter with their host; a man who had introduced himself as Schølberg Nilsen. He was the cook of the establishment, responsible for giving all the scientist the proper nutrition to last them in the cold climate. He and his companions had, apparently, not discovered that they were, in fact, not in the Antarctic, and most certainly not in 1949.

They had arrived at the site after a serious blizzard, and set up all of their equipment, some of which had been malfunctioning since said blizzard. Their radio was amongst the malfunctioning devices, which was why Nilsen had been so worried about his SOS getting through. The scientists had begun disappearing a few days ago, with Ernest Roots, their chief geologist, going missing. He had gone out to take some samples, and hadn't returned.

"And you say you have lost two friends as well?" Nilsen asked in a worried tone, making Susan nod.

"Yes, Odie and Barbara. They were hoping to find someone if they went on ahead," she admitted, and Ian stood up, beginning to pace back and forth.

"And you say all the scientists went missing first?" Ian asked with a furrowed brow. Nilsen nodded eagerly. First all the scientists went missing, then Peter, the guy in charge of their sledge dogs, along with the dogs, then their medical officer and finally Egil and Bertil, the radio operator and mechanical engineer. Now it was only Nilsen left.

"The scientists went missing while out gathering samples, and Peter did it while searching for them. Ove, our doctor, he went to sleep two days ago, but was gone yesterday morning!" Nilsen explained, and the Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

"And then there's the missing two from yesterday evening," he mumbled, as he stood up from his seat. Nilsen and the others looked at the older man as he left the room.

"Grandfather?" Susan asked, as she quickly stood up, following the older man. Ian and Nilsen got up as well, not wanting to be left behind. "Grandfather!"

"Oh shush, child. I am trying to think, think!" the Doctor called back in an absent-minded manner, as he stroke his chin with squinted eyes. Susan couldn't stop a half-hearted pout to break out on her feminine features, as she stopped in her tracks, looking after her grandfather.

"I'm sorry." And then she followed him again, when she saw he did not stop. The Doctor was busy in his mind. There were some parts of this that did not fit together at all; particularly the question of the missing humans. They had only found one corpse, yet many had been missing. And why the necessity to send the corpse through time if no one is around to discover it?

And more pressing – in how much danger was Odie and Barbara?

* * *

"Who are you?" Odie asked loudly, as she took a few steps away from the approaching man. He would have been the impeccable image of a cave dweller, had it not been for that lab coat he was wearing. The man blinked, surprised. For a while, his eyes glistened with something looking like intelligence.

"You... Speak. You not slaves."

Barbara bit her lip, as she watched Odie. The man responded by jumping a bit back, waving the torch in front of him as if to scare her away.

"Odie, I think it best not to provoke him," Barbara said slightly, and Odie further into the cage, the fire burning her eyes. Fire was the only fear she hadn't been able to grow out of.

"We're not slaves. We're travelers. Who are you?" she asked aloud, still glancing nervously at the torch in the man's hand.

"I... I... I am, was, Nils. Nils Roer was I called."

Odie raised her hands slowly, attempting to show him she meant him no harm.

"I don't think you should chat him up. We _are_ his prisoners you know," Barbara pointed out, and Odie nodded.

"I know. But I like getting along with people, don't you?" she asked with no ounce of humor on her face, and Barbara smiled at Odie's rather poor attempt at a joke.

"Nils. Who are these 'slaves' you are so afraid of? We can help you," Odie promised, as their captor began pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself in the meantime. He sounded like the Doctor when he was agitated; it was the same incoherent behavior. That probably meant the poor fellow was a genius.

"Do you have a theory, Odie?" Barbara whispered, as they both observed their captor with badly hidden distrust and fear.

"I think he's just as afraid of us as we are of him," Odie speculated, making Barbara nod. She could follow Odie's line of thought.

"You think he's a friend of the man in the snow?"

"I think it's as good a guess as any," Odie admitted, and Barbara put a hand on her shoulder, making the younger girl look at her. Barbara had a worried look on her face.

"So, in short... He thinks _we_ killed him, or whoever we're supposed to be slaves of."

"I think so. Not a pleasant misunderstanding for us either way."

They both returned to observing their captor, as he shook his head multiple times, trying to make sense of what he knew. After about a minute, his eyes zoomed to their position, lit up by the torch in his hand, and Odie took a single step backwards, as Barbara maneuvered herself in front of her.

"You not hurt Nils?" the man said slowly, and Barbara slowly shook her head, careful not to make any sudden movement.

"Of course not. We wish to help," she said soothingly, and Odie smiled in a strained manner. Barbara was using a mother's tone, and a rather good one too. The man hesitantly approached the cage, carefully holding the torch in front of him as a shield, and despite Odie's knowledge of his fear of them, she still backed as far away from the fire as she could. Barbara stood still, acting as an extra barrier between Odie and the man, apart from the cage already in use. The man held the torch up, lighting up both his and Barbara's faces.

"You will help Nils?"

"Yes. We will help."

Soon the cage was open, and Barbara and Odie were following the man back to wherever he had come from. The cave was a lot larger than Odie had thought, and with intersecting tunnels, just like the cave system the TARDIS had materialized in back when they found the man. But Nils seemed perfectly capable of maneuvering the place, and they soon came to a lit up part of the cave. It seemed like Nils had attempted to make a living here. There were some blankets spread on the ground, and the remnants of a campfire in the middle of the circular room.

"Look – he has modern items here," Barbara said, as she picked up a small iron object. Odie blinked; it was a lighter. That must be what he used to light the fire. Nils had sat down on one of the blankets, as he found tinder for the fire. Some wood and paper... They looked like old newspapers.

"There must be a place nearby where he gets these things," Odie whispered and Barbara nodded. That was the most sensible conclusion. He could have easily carried a lighter with him if he had travelled in time as well, but the old newspapers caused her to think there was a human establishment somewhere near here.

"Sit," Nils said, as he got the fire going. Barbara and Odie glanced at each other briefly, before sitting down on the blankets. They didn't quite keep away the cold of the stone cave floor, but it would have to do.

"Why are you here, Nils?" Odie asked with a smile, and Nils blinked, piecing the information together in his head. He wanted to answer the two, but he was having such a hard time concentrating as of late.

"I watch Earth. The Ups and Downs. Make maps," he attempted, and Barbara furrowed her brow. Odie was confused.

"He watches earth? In a labcoat?" she asked, hoping Barbara had even the slightest idea what Nils was saying. Nils was not happy about the fact that the two women didn't understand what he was talking about. He knew it, in part, was due to his speech, but he did not know how else to tell them.

"Map... Map," he muttered to himself, standing up and walking to a corner of the cave that Odie noticed was extremely messy. It seemed like a large bundle of daily goods. Some jackets, boxes, a sleeping bag, wires and some canned food. And now, Nils pulled out a roll of paper from one of the boxes. He slowly approached Barbara, who looked up at him with a smile. As he showed her the contents of the paper, Barbara's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Topography," she said, and as Odie expressed her unfamiliarity with the term in a small hum, Barbara looked to her.

"He makes maps showing valleys and mountains, and the different altitudes of the ground," she explained, making Odie smile widely.

"So that's what he meant with 'Ups and Downs'," Odie said with sudden understanding. She then turned towards Nils, her eyes worried.

"Nils, why are you here?" The question was a double one. Why was he 1,8 million years before his time, and why was he living like a cave man?

"It took me. It took us all. Put us in hats."

Barbara and Odie looked at each other, their eyes filled with worry. 'It'? That certainly didn't sound promising.

"What did it look like, Nils? The thing that took you?" Barbara urged on, but they could both see Nils' eyes fill with terror at the question. He shook his head and stood up, pacing around the fire. It was clear he didn't want to answer the question. Odie decided to try a different approach.

"What were the 'hats' for, Nils? Do you know?" she asked, and Nils gradually slowed down, eventually coming to a halt. His lips were drawn in a tight line, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Was looking for something. Buried in ice. Thought we knew. We don't," he shared, and the two women blinked.

Soon thereafter, Nils went to sleep, leaving Odie and Barbara to gather their thoughts. He obviously trusted them, or he wouldn't have let them stay out of the cage without supervision.

"So, your thoughts?" Odie asked, as she observed the sleeping man. Barbara nodded.

"The poor man has been through something horrible, enforced by whatever killed the man in the snow, I think. It is looking for something in the Antarctic and want the help of scientists familiar with the area," Barbara summed up, and Odie nodded. It sounded plausible enough.

"But what do you think of these 'hats' he speaks of?" Barbara asked with a furrowed brow, and Odie shrugged.

"I doubt they're the same sorta hats that I know of. Maybe it's the hats that made him like this?"

"Maybe."

"It would be easier to figure out if the Doctor was here," Odie sighed, and Barbara smiled.

"We'll try and convince Nils to let us out in the morning. Maybe he can help us find the others. They must be worried sick about us."

* * *

**So? _Sooooo?_ Anyone want to guess at the plot? :D What are the 'hats'? What culprit are we dealing with? And what are they looking for in the ice?**

**Oooooh, the mystery! Look forward to the next part, where you will (hopefully) get some answers xD**


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